On Tuesday 8 December the Auckland Council Development Committee voted 11-7 to decline a heritage order for the King’s School Hanna Block. The council Heritage Advisory Panel had requested the Committee to grant a heritage order to halt the imminent demolition of the building and give time to negotiate a...
The restoration of Queen Street’s St James Theatre in Auckland has taken a major step forward with Auckland Council’s Finance and Performance committee committing in principle to make a conditional contribution of up to $15 million towards it. See here for more details.
At the Grey Lynn Festival on Saturday 28 November, Civic Trust Auckland’s stall presented information on heritage at risk in Auckland, especially the King’s School Hanna Block, and St David’s Church in Khyber Pass. We also explained the tortuous Unitary Plan process in basic terms and what the risks are...
This week councillors were briefed behind closed doors on the proposed changes to the single house zone in the proposed Unitary Plan, from the notified draft. The changes are significant – from 35% of the city zoned single house zone, down to 21% in some areas. This is a grave...
Our AGM, held at the Leys Institute, the Ponsonby Library, on Sunday 22 November was very well attended. After the formalities were over, we were treated to a tour of the 1905 library building, including the basement, containing over a century of library heritage paraphernalia, as well as a heritage...
This Saturday 28 November is the iconic Grey Lynn Festival, held in the Grey Lynn Park. This is the second time Civic Trust has run a stall at the festival. Our aims are to raise awareness of heritage issues in Auckland, to educate about the Unitary Plan process, and of...
Today, Sunday 22 November, Phil Goff announced his candidacy for the Auckland mayoralty at the 2016 local body elections. In his speech he talks about the things that Aucklanders value and want to protect. He expressed the view that heritage protection is important: ” More intensive housing in the city...
In his latest opinion piece in the November Ponsonby News, Waitemata Councillor Mike Lee discusses the recently released maps of the proposed heritage overlays to be presented to the Unitary Plan Hearings Panel. He says that we will need to fight for our unique heritage landscapes. He’s disappointed that entire...
The Civic Trust Auckland Annual General Meeting this year will be held on Sunday 22 November from 3pm in the lecture room at the Leys Institute, 20 St Marys Rd, Ponsonby. Public transport information is available from Auckland Transport on 366 6400 and there is parking in St Marys Road or in the library’s large...
On 16 October, councillors and Local Board chairs had a confidential briefing on the latest maps showing historic heritage overlays and the extent of the temporary pre-1944 heritage overlay. According to the Herald, large areas of the pre-1944 temporary overlay, giving protection from demolition without consent, before the new Unitary...