Heritage Enhances and Enables Development

The debate about removing heritage protections from non-contributing sites within the Karangahape Road Historic Heritage Area is back on. The discussion is framed as a choice between heritage and housing but Auckland’s planning framework already enables both. The City Centre, including Karangahape Road, is one of the most development-enabled areas in New Zealand and now that Plan Change 78 is operative, has far more capacity than ever before. It also has empty sites less than a minute from the CRL.

Historic heritage protections do not prevent development. They mainly guide how new buildings meet the street and relate to heritage values, particularly in the lower levels that shape the public realm. The objective is to maintain the distinctive character of Karangahape Road while accommodating growth.

So, yes, you can already demolish Samoa House or one of the other "non-contributing sites" and build something new but it just has to be designed - particularly at the lower levels, so that it supports the scheduled heritage ones adjacent otherwise you could end up with the heritage buildings next to a glass box (as a local landlord's staff put it) that does nothing for the sense of place.

The area continues to evolve while retaining the streetscape that makes it unique. Significant new development has occurred throughout the Karangahape precinct, including Ironbank, the Abstract Hotel and 442 Karangahape Road. In the latter the setback from the road means rooftop gardens but there's a lot of residential space behind the facade you really only see from the side. These are not fake old buildings either, they are new designs that complement the old.

To be very clear, you can build tall buildings already. Yes, the famous gravel pit has a consent and Kirkpatrick could start construction at any time. You could consider reducing the Historic Heritage area to lose some of the Western End, but pepper-potting Karangahape with bulky towers is an odd way to sustain what Time Out has called one of the coolest streets in the world. If you want to see the outcome of removing non-contributing sites from protections have a look at Broadway. It really is not about height, it is about design.

The world’s most desirable cities, from Copenhagen to Melbourne, London to Barcelona, protect parts of their historic fabric while building new homes. Heritage areas create cultural identity, support local businesses and tourism, foster social connection, and reduce environmental waste by adapting and reusing existing buildings.

There are many people who love historic areas, and even though some don't, protecting a small percentage of the city's urban area can be accommodated. Historic character is not an obstacle to urban growth. When managed well, it is one of the reasons people want to live in a city in the first place.

There are lots of consented sites across the city. People are not buying apartments because they are rational. If you can get a house, that is bigger, has more amenity and costs less in Mount Eden than an apartment downtown, you’d buy that. There is some work underway looking into construction costs. Nail that, and the sky is the limit.