Purpose

This report covers my Waitematā Local Board Activities during June 2015 as Deputy Chair of the Finance Committee; Deputy Chair of the Hearings Committee; Lead of the Parks and Open Spaces portfolio; Heritage, Urban Design and Planning portfolio holder; and, Local Board representative on the K Road Business Association.

Executive Summary

• I submitted on behalf of the Local Board to the Auckland Development Committee on the Queen Elizabeth Square plan change and our concern that there is no alternative civic site secured to replace QE Square. This generated significant media interest with articles published on 9 & 12 June in the New Zealand Herald
• Special Consultative Procedure on dog access rules began on 12 June (ending 17 July)
• Alcohol Ban Review public submissions open on 19 June (ending 17 July)
• Costley Reserve renewal completed on 26 June
• Plaques on Grey Lynn Park ‘Sculptura’ artworks renewed
• New signs installed at Arch Hill Reserve Walkway
• Viewed the giant Amorphophallus titanum at the Wintergardens
• Attended Mike Lydon’s workshop on ‘Tactical Urbanism’, hosted by Waterfront Auckland
• Spoke to bFM about the Symonds Street Cemetery work programme
• The Skypath resource consents were approved. At the time of this report there may still be an appeal against the decision

Comments

‘Corpse Flower’, Titan Arum, Amorphophallus titanum blooms at Wintergarden

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The giant Amorphophallus titanum produces the world’s largest flower and famously smells like rotting flesh when it blooms. It generally blooms for only 2-3 days and it can be many years between flowering. It may be a world first that the plant has bloomed for the second time in only eighteen months.  I was privileged to be shown the plant after hours on its last day of flowering on 18 June.

Portfolio Report: Parks & Open Spaces

Portfolio Responsibilities

Decision-making for and oversight of local parks and public council open spaces, including beaches, coastal walkways, reserves, sports fields, playgrounds, non-road reserve plazas and boat ramps. This includes location and naming of new parks, design and maintenance of park facilities and settings, and supporting community events and planting programmes in parks. Landowner consent delegation in respect of local parks and open spaces. Regulatory and policy oversight of local dog management. Advocacy to achieve local priorities relating to parks network development and input into the management and use of regional parks located within the local area.

Costley Reserve Renewal Completion and Opening

Cutting the ribbon on Costley Park playground with Pippa Coom, Rob Thomas and locals.

It was a pleasure to open the renovated Costley Reserve playground on 28 June. This is the first new playground to be delivered by the Local Board since the formation of the Auckland Council. We have been told time and again by residents that in an intensifying city the provision of high quality urban parks and play spaces is hugely important. This playground was due for renewal and the budget allocated just for renewal was $114,055. We added $92,000 from our Local Improvement Projects budget and topped up an additional $50,000 in capital expenditure making a total of $256,055  to create a very high quality play ground with significantly enhanced landscaping of the surrounds.

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The original playground was separated from the rest of the reserve by a high retaining wall and joined to the street with a narrow and steep set of concrete steps. The works included a significant re-grading of the slope to achieve a more natural and aesthetically pleasing flow into the rest of the reserve and the steps have been improved in both width and gradient to be much safer.

‘Sculptura’ Grey Lynn Park Artwork Plaques Renewed

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There are seven artworks located in Grey Lynn Park which were gifted to Council by ‘Sculptura’, a community-administrated group, that initiated the commissions in the 1990s.  Council’s Arts & Culture team will be replacing the old plaques which have deteriorated badly with standard format bronze plaques that will be inset into the footpath facing each of the works. The contractor started installing the plaques on Monday 15 June and the work took two days. Parks removed the old plaques and plinths once the new ones were installed.  They also removed branches overhanging a couple of the works.

Signs installed at Arch Hill Reserve Walkway

In the second week of June, renewed way-marking signage was installed at Arch Hill Reserve as the old signage was in poor condition or illegible.

Volunteers in Parks

The following is drawn from an update by Sarah Peters, Volunteer and Biodiversity Coordinator, for the month of June:

• Auckland Domain

To celebrate Arbor Day, volunteers and Parks staff mulched a number of 150 year old totara and oak trees located next to the Grandstand

Photo 1: Some of the volunteers and council staff who took part in the Arbor Day event at the Auckland Domain.

• Ayr St Reserve

The first event associated with the “Adopt a Park” agreement with Parnell District School took place in Ayr Reserve.  This involved around 20 pupils planting 60 native seedlings at two locations in the reserve

• Meola Reef

The regular weekly Conservation Volunteers NZ (CVNZ) team planted 250 plants at Meola Reef as part of the ongoing ecological restoration activities in the reserve

• Animal Pest Control: Lemington Reserve

In addition to the ongoing trapping for rodents at possums at Auckland Domain and Newmarket Park, a group of locals who help look after Lemington Reserve have been added to the Volunteer Animal Pest Control Programme.  Training took place on Saturday 27^th June at Lemington Reserve (photo 3).

• Volunteer Recognition
  • The annual predator control “Thank you Event” for all volunteers involved in the Central Auckland Volunteer Pest Control Programme took place one evening at the Fickling Convention Centre. This event gives volunteers the opportunity to get together over some food and drink – and on this occasion to hear guest speaker Rachel Fewster from Auckland University speak about her team’s recently developed online pest control data management system: CatchIT.
  • Following a nomination by Sarah Peters, the Auckland Domain and Newmarket Park animal pest control volunteers received a Waitemata Good Citizens Award in the Community Group category.

Feijoa Grove at Constitution Hill

Self-described ‘city centre fanatic’, Mik Smellie, a recent recipient of a Waitematā Local Board Good Citizens’ award has led a community initiative to plant six feijoa trees on Parks land along Churchill Street at the base of Constitution Hill delineating the Grafton Gully/Beach Road cycleway. A memorandum of understanding has been signed between Council and the ‘Feijoa Guild’ who plan a planting day on 2 August.

Portfolio Report: Heritage, Urban Design & Planning

Portfolio Responsibilities

Heritage, Urban Design and Planning covers a mix of regulatory and non-regulatory activities including city planning and growth, heritage protection, urban design requirements, Local Board resource consent application input, and bylaw development, including advocacy to achieve local priorities relating to heritage preservation, good urban design and spatial planning. Regulatory and policy oversight of local liquor licensing, signs & billboards, brothels.

Heritage

Seismic Exemplar Guidebook

Branding and final design have been delayed until next financial year but we will aim to bring the document to the Local Board for endorsement at the August business meeting.

Planning

Queen Elizabeth Square

Queen Elizabeth II Square

Precinct Properties, the developers of the Downtown site, have requested a private plan change to, among other things, re-zone Queen Elizabeth Square from ‘open space’ to ‘city centre’. They intend to build a 19-metre high building on the site.  At the 11 June meeting of the Auckland Development Committee I spoke on behalf of the Local Board to the following  formal feedback which was included in the report to the members of the committee:

1. The Local Board supports the private plan change request going through the statutory process so that any submissions may be heard. The Board would like to the see the plan change publicly notified and heard by a hearings panel.

2. The Local Board does not support the private plan change having immediate legal effect; it should go through the hearings process.

3. The Local Board accepts as a logical outcome of sale of the site the proposed statutory planning  process under the Resource Management Act (1991) in relation to the rezoning of QE Square land from ‘Road’ with ‘open space overlay’ to the ‘city centre zone’.

4. This block in the city centre is one of the major redevelopment blocks for the city and enabling an appropriate form of development on the site is supported.

5. Specific concerns that the Local Board would like noted
   1. That the QEII public space has been privatised space with no correlating, alternative public space secured
   2. That the net proceeds from the sale of QEII square are insufficient to provide the alternative public space the Local Board was assured would be secured to set off the loss of the square as a public space

6. Specific concerns about which the Local Board would like clarification from the planning team:
   1. What is the scheduled heritage item to be deleted from the amended 14.2A.8.7?
   2. What will be the shading effect of the proposed minimum height of 19 metres in rules 6.9A (a)(ii) and 6.18 Frontage Alignment and Height?
   3. Will the new building on the site of QEII Square be built up to the edge of the site or will there be a setback more in line with the eastern edge of the HSBC building? The Local Board supports there being a view to the eastern end of the Ferry Building from the intersection of Victoria and Queen Streets

7. Specific outcomes the board supports:
   1. Implementation of the laneway connecting Lower Queen Street and the Britomart transport hub with Lower Albert Street and that it be publically accessible for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
   2. High quality commercial development complementing and enhancing public space surrounding it
   3. Future public space around Lower Queen Street is not adversely affected by future development of QE Square land although we remain concerned that shading may be an adverse effect and our agreement to this point is contingent on a full analysis of shading being completed
   4. That the laneway connecting Lower Queen Street and Lower Albert Street is required as a development control rule rather than relying on assessment criteria

8. The Board overall supports this private plan change request being accepted by the Council so that it can go through the statutory planning process to allow the public to submit on the proposed zoning.

There has been significant media interest in this media with New Zealand Herald articles on 9 June and 12 June. In the piece of 9 June I pointed out that while Precinct Properties is obtaining QE Square for private benefit and the public lose a civic space, no alternative space has been secured. The options for alternative public spaces have been narrowed down to the Ferry Basin steps and Admiralty Breastworks. Both are contingent on other things happening. The Ferry Basin needs AT’s $48 million seawall work to be finished and that’s not happening until FY21/22 in the LTP. Admiralty is still Ports of Auckland land and there is no certainty that they are even willing to release it. This will be a watching brief for the remainder of the term. The 12 June Herald article reported what I was able to say within the very narrow strictures of the Development Committee which was discussing only whether or not Plan Change 79 would be accepted or not. Given this limitation, I reminded the Committee of its previous resolution (AUC/2014/111, 11 September 2014) that the proceeds of the sale of QE Square would be applied to ‘at least two of the three’ identified waterfront open space areas. This understanding was confirmed by head of CCIG, Rick Walden, at the joint workshop of the Auckland Development Committee and Waitematā Local Board on 30 June.

Review of Bonus Floor Provisions

Developers can obtain bonus floors over and above what is allowed in planning rules if they undertake to provide public open spaces and/or through-site links. However, many of them never deliver on that promise. Board Chair, Shale Chambers, led on documenting these public spaces and questioning the level of compliance achieved. A report was completed in May 2013 on such sites. The latest audit was undertaken in February 2015 of 72 sites. These included the non-complying sites from a May 2013 report.  Results of the 2015 audit are shown below.

Table: Results of the February 2015 audit of bonus floor provision sites in the CBD

Non complying sites:

The eight sites found to be non-compliant have been logged for investigation by the Central Incident Investigations team.  A progress report on these sites will be provided to the board by 22 August 2015.

Sites to be removed from list:

BNZ Tower, 125 Queen Street – Consent varied, link is no longer required.  New consent no: R/VCC/2009/41/1.

Fonterra Centre, 9 Princess Street – Changes to the CBD plan permit increased Gross Floor Area therefore, no bonus floor features are required under the operative plan.  There are no enforceable conditions to pursue this matter.

295 Karangahape Road – Through site link removed via Resource Consent R/LUC/2013/3827.

Fonterra Centre, 9 Princess Street – Link was accessible; however, signs displayed stated there was no public access.  There are no enforceable conditions to pursue this matter.

Changes to the CBD plan permit increased Gross Floor Area therefore; no bonus floor features are required under the operative plan.

Update on non-complying sites from May 2013 Report:

• Sky City Sky Bridge over Federal Street – Signs have been installed and all other requirements have been met. Compliance achieved.
• Oracle Tower, 56 Wakefield St – Observation Deck is open to the public and unobstructed. Signage is displayed clearly. [UPDATE: now closed following a resource consent granted in January 2018]
• Ibis Styles Hotel, 20 Wyndham St – Through site link is in place and unobstructed. Signage is displayed clearly. Compliance achieved.
• BNZ Tower, 125 Queen Street – The original consent has been rescinded therefore, neither a through-site link nor an observation deck are still required. [UPDATE: a consent variation removed the requirement for a viewing deck and through-site link].
• Beaumont Quarter, Beaumont Street – Signs are not installed in public spaces within the development. Signs were required as part of an agreement with the Council to direct people to public spaces within the site. A letter has been issued to the Body Corporate and a response is expected by the end of June 2015. Case is assigned to the Central Incident Investigations team.
• Fonterra Centre, 9 Princes Street – Childcare facility. The provision of a childcare facility on the site was required as part of the consent when issued in 1987. There are currently no childcare facilities operating at this site. However, further discussions with the CBD Manager confirm that the rules within the CBD regarding Gross Floor Area have increased; therefore, bonus floor features are no longer required under the operative plan.

An update for the audit undertaken in February 2015 of the 72 bonus floor provisions has been provided. A progress report of the non-complying sites from the February 2015 audit will be provided by 22 August 2015.

Resource Consents

I have, as usual, monitored and given feedback (where necessary) on resource consent applications.

Applications about which I sought additional information this month:

• R/TRC/2015/1965, 3/19A Takutai Street. Remove six generally protected trees
• R/VCC/2013/4861/1, 217 Great North Road. Vary consent condition – more detail below
• R/VCC/2014/4116/1, 195 Khyber Pass Road. Variation of conditions to alter approved layout of student accommodation and unit titling of individual floors.
• R/LUC/2015/1571/1, 293 Ponsonby Road. Alterations to the existing building and parking exemption
• R/VCC/2014/4404/1, 22 Fleet Street. s127 Change condition 1 to adjust the number of apartments within the building
• R/LUC/2015/2098, 121-127 Beaumont Street. IDP – QA2 (Gaunt Street, Pakenham Street West and Beaumont Street) – more detail below
• R/LUC/2015/2053, 48 Gladstone Road. Removal of existing dwelling and construction of a new dwelling
• R/JSL/2015/2037, 99 Brighton Road. Construction of a new dwelling and subdivide around exiting and approved development. Shared driveway, drainage and services
• R/LUC/2015/2144, 67 Customs Street East. The application seeks to provide a 30 level hotel, providing 252 rooms. The proposal exceeds MTFAR and will therefore be assessed as a non-complying activity. Other consent matters include (but not limited to) the non-provision of a loading space and bus/coach space, earthworks totalling approximately 500m² and development within the 1 per cent AEP flood plain
• R/VCC/2012/4401/2, 67 Customs Street East. Change condition numbers 1,14,26, delete number 25 of R/LUC/2012/4401 and R/VCC/2012/4401 and add condition to R/VCC/2012/4401. This application seeks to amend, delete and add conditions to R/LUC/2012/4401 and R/VCC/2012/4401 to amend the design of the hotel building, remove on-site car parking to be replaced with drop off and loading only, amended porte-cochere area to enable shared use with hotel proposed in current application R/LUC/2015/2144. Some interesting background here.
• R/LUC/2015/2157, 8A/71 Symonds Street. The application is to convert the existing commercial office on level 8 of the building to a 3 bedroom residential apartment. The application is a restricted controlled activity and compliant with all accommodation standards of the District Plan including size, outlook and daylight
• R/LUC/2015/2214, 8-14 Madden Street. Demolition of buildings and relocation of N. Cole Building; R/LUC/2015/2352 and R/REG/2015/2354, construction of new buildings – more detail below
• R/LUC/2015/2210, 95-139 Greys Avenue. The application is for a new pitched roof for all 4 multi-storey buildings. This is to address the leaking roof membrane as pervious repair work has failed to address the ongoing problem. The activity is a restricted discretionary activity under the operative plan and discretionary under the PAUP for alterations to a scheduled building
• R/VCC/2014/4135/1, 4 Finch Street. Variation of conditions for a previously consented land use-subdivision to enable a changed design of the proposed units, redesigned landscaping and stormwater attenuation
• R/VCC/2013/613/2, 314-390 Khyber Pass Road. To change condition 3(a) regarding pedestrian paths and crossings and condition 17 to extend the period of time which a fencing and landscaping plan is provided to Council from two years to four years) and the period for implementation of the approved plan (from six months, to the first planting season)
• R/REG/2015/2179, 314-390 Khyber Pass Road. To change condition 3(a) (approved plans) regarding pedestrian paths and crossings of contaminated site discharge consent 41742
• R/LUC/2015/1975, 59 Pitt Street. Includes refurbishment of the existing building (including the façade, corner dome, internal volume and floor levels) but fully demolish, seismically strengthen and replace the internal structure of the building to bring it up to earthquake/building code standards.  A new basement floor (with parking for 8 vehicles) will be developed under most the building footplate and a 5 storey addition (containing 28 serviced apartments) constructed above the existing roof level. The street level will accommodate café/retail uses and first floor, offices – more detail below
• R/VCC/2012/1664/2, 3-5 Blake Street, Ponsonby. This application involves further changes to the previously approved development on the site (Council reference R/LUC/2012/1664). The site is zoned Mixed Use. The previous consent approved a mixed development on the site involving construction of a new building (4 levels) with a basement level for 24 car spaces (involving retail at ground level and 10 residential apartments within the three levels above). The proposed changes involve:
  • Additional level (fifth floor) and some minor exterior alterations.
  • Internal reconfiguration will result in 9 residential apartments.
  • The following reason for consent (District Plan) has been applied for:
  • Infringing the site intensity control- basis floor area ratio of 2:1
  • 15m height control infringement with 16.87m proposed.
  • Further height to boundary control infringements.
  • The following reasons for consent under PAUP has been applied forThe existing dwellings on the site are subject to the Pre1944 Demolition Control and will require consent for demolition.
  • Earthworks
  • Stormwater rules
  • This application will be processed as a new resource consent application instead of a s127 variation application. The applicant has been advised of this and they have resubmitted an amended application reflecting this change. The new resource consent number is R/LUC/2015/1997– more detail below
• R/VCC/2013/4343/3, 143-159 Beaumont Street, Waterfront Auckland seeks consent to change consent conditions 1, 7, 14, 15, 17, 20 and 21 to accommodate a redesign of the Integrated Development Plan associated with Parcel 5 and 6 in Wynyard Quarter approved in April 2014 under consent R/LUC/2013/434 . In particular the application will address the re-design of the approved built form of five of the eight buildings located within Parcel 5 and 6 and provide additional office activity within Parcel 6, bringing the total proposed office GFA up to 48,000m². This variation follows two previously approved variations to the existing IDP consent, Parcel 4 (R/LUC/2013/4343/1) and Parcel 7 (R/LUC/2013/4343/2). The application is currently being reviewed for adequacy of information by Council’s Consultant Planner, Sally-Anne Halpin.
• R/LUC/2015/2364, 7A/10 Scotia Place, The applicant is applying to convert an existing vacant office unit into non-permanent (student) accommodation. There will be 11 student rooms, plus a managers room  lounge, kitchen and unisex bathrooms and toilets. 10 Scotia Place is in a residential precinct. This is a restricted discretionary activity, and the applicant is applying under rule 5.5.5 “conversion of existing building to Non-Permanent Accommodation”
• R/REG/2015/2013, 438 Queen Street. Water take and use of groundwater. An approved application R/LUC/2015/1403 provided for a residential building with retail to the ground floor.   As a result of the proposed lower basement  the development also requires consent for the take, use and diversion of groundwater under the Unitary Plan. The proposal drains the basement permanently, physically impedes the flow of groundwater by approximately 50m in length and the length of the excavation is more than 50m in length. The application is currently under review by specialists.
• R/LUC/2015/2348, 61/66-70 Emily Place. Internal alterations to scheduled building. This is Category B scheduled building. The applicant has applied for a resource consent for internal alterations to a scheduled building. The proposed works include the removal of an internal non load-bearing wall, a replacement kitchen and minor decorative enhancements. The building is located in a residential precinct. This is a Restricted Discretionary activity under Rule 10.9.1 d) of the Operative Plan and a Discretionary activity under Part 3 Chapter J sub-section 2.1 of the PAUP.
• R/VCC/2015/180/1, 299 Queen Street, R/LUC/2015/180, Consent (R/LUC/2015/180) was granted on 30 January 2015 to hold the Auckland Arts Festival for up to 38 days over February and March annually between 2015 and 2019.  This application seeks to vary condition 9 which relates to the implementation of noise mitigation measures at each event including the erection of double stacked 4.8m high containers on the eastern face of the venue.  The 2015 event held in March and advice from  Council’s Noise Specialist have confirmed that single stacked containers will adequately mitigate noise associated with the event and hence a minor alteration to the condition is requested and supported.
• R/REG/2015/2381, 2 Park Road. Renew existing groundwater abstraction consent for Auckland Hospital. The ADHB holds resource consent which enables extraction of groundwater from the production well for non-potable use for Auckland Hospital. The resource consent provides for a maximum annual abstraction of 100,000 m³/year and a maximum daily abstraction of 550 m³ from the production well. The consent granted on 5 May 1999 will expire on 31 December 2015.  The continued abstraction of groundwater production triggers a Discretionary Activity under the Auckland Council Regional Plan: Air, Land and Water; and the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan. The volume of groundwater take will remain the same and no physical works is required for on-going abstraction.Consultation has been undertaken with relevant Mana Whenua and despite interest in the consents there have been no requests for a Cultural Impact Assessment.
• R/JSL/2015/247/1, 213 Jervois Road. Demolition of the existing structure, construction of two new dwellings and two lot subdivision. The motel structure currently on site has a pre-1944 overlay under the PAUP, however, the building was built in the 1960s so has not been reviewed by the Conservation Architects. It is also within a Mana Whenua Overlay but the CIA facilitators have viewed it and no CIA is required.
• R/TRC/2015/2396, 31A Awatea Road. Removal of one Pohutukawa tree. I have contacted members of the Parnell Community Committee and they are not concerned about this particular tree.
• R/LUC/2015/486/2, 96-98 Richmond Road. extension of retail activity. Application to create a staff room / office space for the retail business at the front of the property. This is to be only utilised by the staff of the retail area. There is currently two flats consented behind the retail shop and the staff room will utilise one of these flats. The only change to the property is an internal door between the old existing flat and the retail space.
• R/LUC/2015/2446, 5 Porters Avenue, retrospective consent for an educational facility.

Of particular significance this month:

Skypath

R/LUV/2014/3364, R/REG/2014/3365, R/REG/2015/720. The Skypath project is a shared walkway and cycleway to be built along the eastern side of the Harbour Bridge by the Skypath Trust. The Auckland Council has agreed to underwrite the project if patronage falls short of projected patronage at $3 per trip.

438 Queen Street, Demolition of Real Groovy Building

A non-notified consent was granted for the demolition of the Real Groovy building on Queen Street in mid-July. Originally built as a purpose-designed car showroom in the 1920s, it is difficult to separate its iconic use as a record store and centre of popular culture from its status as a building with no heritage protection by way of scheduling or overlay. Nonetheless, this lack of protection meant that the application for demolition was non-notified and was bound to be accepted. An apartment building with over 200 dwellings will be built in its place.

554-558 Great North Road

The proposal is for a mixed use development consisting of 8 residential units which will include 3 live/work units with associated retail space at ground floor level (fronting Great North Road at the Surrey Crescent shops). The site is zoned Business 2. The proposal involves construction of two new three level buildings. 16 carparks will be provided within internal garages with access provided from Barrington Road. The existing building will be demolished.

The following reasons for consent has been applied for:

• Earthworks
• 2 carparks and a loading bay shortfall
• Residential units in a Business 2 zone being restricted discretionary activity
• Height in relation to boundary infringement along the southern boundary which adjoin a Residential 6a zoned property

The application is currently on hold as the design is not responsive to the surrounding buildings and sits within a character overlay area. We have also raised concerns, shared by residents, about increased traffic on Barrington Road.

217 Great North Road

The application is linked to an application for a unit title subdivision for the approved development at 217 Great North Road that was lodged with a land use component for a one carpark shortfall.  The unit title subdivision application involved providing 8 carparks for the approved 8 residential units on site and with some internal configuration within Level 3 of the building which resulted in an apartment (studio apartment) with no carparks allocated to it. This one carpark shortfall has been dealt with a s127 variation of the original consent (Council reference R/LUC/2013/4861). The carparking shortfall resulted from the removal of a pair of stacked park previously approved on the site. Therefore, the proposal required a variation of condition 1 of R/LUC/2013/4861 to reflect the above changes. This application has been approved.

8-14 Madden Street, N. Cole Building

The application seeks consent for the demolition of buildings on site and the partial retention (i.e. of the façade), re-location and reconstruction of the building known as the N. Cole Building which will be relocated approximately 19 metres east of its current location. The building is not scheduled so any measure of protection is welcome. These applications seek consent for the erection of a new six storey commercial office building and relocation and substantial rebuild of a single storey character building (N. Cole building.) The proposed new commercial office building will include two below ground basement levels, 85 parking spaces and 8675m² of GFA. The relocated and rebuilt character building will provide a further 295m² of GFA for food and beverage activities. Regional consent matters include groundwater take and diversion in order to facilitate the basement car parking.

121-127 Beaumont Street Integrated Development Plan (IDP)

Consent is sought for an Integrated Development Plan (‘IDP’) for the land bounded by Gaunt Street, Daldy Street, Pakenham Street West and Beaumont Street involving developing 10 building elements on the land up to maximum height ranging between 17m and 39m, arranged in two perimeter block style layouts split by the provision of an east-west lane. The building will accommodate a mix of commercial, offices and residential with basement carparking for 561 vehicles.

Consent matters include:

• increase in permitted site intensity beyond the maximum permitted intensity identified on Quarter Plan B1 and an increase in maximum height in excess of the permitted maximum heights identified on Quarter Plan C1
• concurrent development control modifications to increase the maximum height of development in excess of Quarter Plan C2, increase the maximum site intensity in excess of Quarter Plan B2, add maximum additional office GFA to the sites, remove the requirement to provide a north-south lane, provide access off Daldy Street through a Special Character Frontage and egress onto Beaumont Street, as well as having access and egress points off Pakenham Street West and Gaunt Street, with all accesses being through Defined Road Frontages, and to reduce the extent of ground floor required to be occupied by marine and fishing retail.

The portfolio holders and Local Board Chair met with the processing planner on 18 June to be briefed on the detail of this application. There are no matters which cause great concern but we will wait until a section 92 RMA assessment request by the processing planner has unearthed more information.

Native Trees at Seccombes Road

An application (R/TRC/2015/1116, 30 Seccombes Road) was made on 30 March for the removal of two Totara and two Pohutukawa trees. The Local Board was made aware of this and I lodged a strong objection with the responsible planner. We were informed on 16 June that the processing arborist held that the application cannot be supported from an arboricultural or planning perspective. The applicant will now have the option of withdrawing the application or revising the proposal for only minor trimming works (the extent of which will need to be agreed by Council’s heritage arborist) or see whether they wish to pursue with the application to notification.

59 Pitt Street

The overall activity status is non-complying as the building does not fully comply with the required frontage control.  In this respect the building is not fully aligned with the Pitt Street frontage (.5 m setback) and some of the new upper levels are not set back the required 6 metres once it reaches a height of 14m above mean street level. The Volcanic Viewshaft under proposed plan change 67 and the PAUP is 26.5m. If the proposal was granted consent then it would be normal practise to impose a condition of consent requiring a surveyors certificate to certify compliance with the abovementioned viewshafts. The Council consultant planner has advised that he has sought specialist heritage and urban design advice in respect to the proposal. These inputs will include specialist advice / assessment of the adverse effects of the proposed building on the street scene amenity of Pitt Street (and Beresford Square), heritage values in the surrounds and an assessment of how the building sits within this urban context. The Council consultant processing planner has also advised that the application is currently on-hold, as he has requested additional details in respect to the design of the building, as well as clarification of compliance with various development controls of the District Plan.

3-5 Blake Street

The original application was made prior to the pre-1944 overlay. We await the heritage report. If it recommends that the villas be scheduled then a very interesting question is raised as to what is the permitted baseline. The purpose of the permitted baseline test is to isolate and make effects of activities on the environment that are permitted by the plan, or have already been consented to, irrelevant. When applying the permitted baseline such effects cannot then be taken into account when assessing the effects of a particular resource consent application. The baseline has been defined by case law as comprising the ‘existing environment’ and non-fanciful (credible) activities that would be permitted as of right by the plan in question. The owners have an existing consent and could have carried that out, starting with demolition of the villas but the new application requires that the pre-1944 heritage assessment is carried out. However, the houses will only be protected if they are of schedulable standard. Although they are good examples of wooden Victorian villas, it is unlikely that there will be anything exceptional justifying an application for scheduling.

Regulatory

Local Dog Access Rules

The Local Board has started reviewing the local dog access rules in our area. We will be focusing particularly on the rules regarding beach, foreshore and selected park areas. We adopted a statement of proposal of any proposed changes to the local rules for public consultation at the June business meeting. The Special Consultative Procedure (SCP) began on Friday 12 June and ends on Friday 17 July. Our Local Board Hearings Committee will consider public submissions to the proposal before making a final decision by mid-September.

Alcohol Ban Review

By law, the current alcohol ban areas will lapse. Any new proposed areas have to be based on evidence of alcohol related crime. We adopted a statement of proposal of any proposed changes to the local rules for public consultation at the June business meeting. Public submissions open on 19 June (ending 17 July).

Meetings/Events Attended

2 June:

• Local Board Workshop
  • Bi-monthly report
  • Parnell BID Expansion

3 June:

• Attended Liquor Licencing hearing for new licence at 486 Parnell Road in support of local objectors

4 June:

• Parks Portfolio Monthly Meeting

9 June:

• Local Board Business Meeting

10 June:

• Myers Park underpass update meeting

11 June:

• Local Board workshop
  • City Centre Integration
  • Pioneer Womens’ Hall update
  • Contracted Aquatic and Recreation Facility Business Plan
  • Heritage Asset Management Policy
• Newmarket Laneways stakeholder meeting

16 June:

• Local Board Workshop
  • Contestable Events Funds
  • AT Update
    • Franklin Road Improvements Project
    • Wynyard Quarter Interim Cycleway (Beaumont Street)
  • City Centre Integration
    • Work Programme
    • Aotea Framework
    • Downtown spaces
  • Community meeting on Western Park Development Plan
  • K Road Business Association monthly meeting

17 June:

• Newmarket Laneways meeting
• Heritage & Urban Design portfolio meeting
• Transport portfolio meeting
• Waitematā Local Board Good Citizens Awards Ceremony

18 June:

• Meeting with processing planners: Integrated Development Plan for 121-127 Beaumont Street
• Regional Strategy and Policy workshop to discuss the implementation of the Weed Management Policy for Parks and Open Spaces

22 June:

• Tactical Urbanism Workshop with Mike Lydon

23 June:

• Local Board Workshop
  • Quarterly Report
  • Heritage Toilets
• Interview with radio bFM on the Jewish Section of Symonds Street Cemetery

24 June:

• City Centre Advisory Board meeting

25 June:

• Finance Committee meeting
• Meeting to review Seismic Strengthening Handbook draft
• Bi-Monthly Resource Consents Meeting

27 June:

• Opening ceremony for Costley Reserve

30 June:

• Auckland Development Committee – Waitematā Local Board Joint Workshop on Downtown Open Spaces