Business Special Character Overlay in Lieu of the Precinct Overlay Proposed by the PAUP
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BEFORE THE AUCKLAND UNITARY PLAN INDEPENDENT HEARINGS PANEL IN THE MATTER of the Resource Management Act 1991 and the Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act 2010 AND IN THE MATTER of the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (PAUP ), Topic 081 – Precincts __________________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF EVIDENCE OF SALLY BARBARA PEAKE (LANDSCAPE – PRECINCTS TOPIC 081) ON BEHALF SAVE OUR ST HELIERS (SOS) INC AND ST HELIERS / GLENDOWIE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION INC 10 FEBRUARY 2016 __________________________________________________________________________ Introduction 1 My full name is Sally Barbara Peake. I am a landscape architect in private practice, and a Principal of Peake Design Limited. I have over 30 years experience in design, assessment, and preparation of landscape analysis and development projects. I have qualifications in landscape architecture (Diploma in Landscape Architecture from Leeds, UK) and urban design (Diploma in Urban Design from Oxford, UK), and a Master of Architecture degree from Unitec, NZ. 2 I am a Fellow and Registered landscape architect with the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects, and immediate past -president of the institute. I am also a member of the Resource Management Law Association and Urban Design Forum (Auckland). 3 I am a former panellist on the Auckland City Urban Design Panel, and have represented the NZILA on a number of external advisory groups for the Auckland Plan and Proposed Unitary Plan. 4 This statement is prepared in support of the Save Our St Heliers (SOS) and St Heliers/ Glendowie Residents’ Association proposed Business Special Character overlay in lieu of the Precinct overlay proposed by the PAUP. 5 The statement is supplementary to my evidence provided to accompany the submission, dated 26 th February 2014. I adopt that evidence for this hearing and append it. 6 In particular, this statement of evidence provides additional evidence with regard to the urban design and landscape effects of the proposed changes following the preparation of Auckland Council’s evidence (Topics 080 and 081). 7 I am also aware that submissions were made by SOS and St Heliers/ Glendowie Residents’ Association in relation to Tamaki Drive (Topic 029) and Special Character and Pre-1944 Mapping (Topic 079) and I note that there is some overlap between these topics and Topics 080/081. 8 Background and summary 9 The original submission and urban design evidence sought that a Special Character overlay be applied to St Heliers Centre to afford more appropriate protection of its special character (compared with a Precinct overlay). 10 Key urban design issues (attributes) identified by SOS and the Residents’ Association and covered by the evidence are: • The importance of the centre as an historic seaside village (together with its relationship with Tamaki Drive) • Its importance as a local retail and community centre (in contrast to Mission Bay) • The retention of the form, character and heritage of the centre as an expression of community values 11 The evidence notes that the Auckland Plan and Orakei Local Plan seek to support centres as an expression of community values and maintaining local character. Supporting documents that set out and reinforce community values and local character include the Tamaki Drive Masterplan and Scenic Way heritage protection, St Heliers Village Centre Plan, and St Heliers Character/Heritage Study. 12 The evidence summarises the key urban design attributes and features with regard to these documents. 13 The spatial extent of the centre and precinct is very small (refer to figure 1 below), although a larger area is identified as a “zone of influence” (refer to figure 2) in my evidence, which recognises the importance of Tamaki Drive and Vellenoweth Green as well as some residential areas in relation to the centre and its character. Figure 1 Plan of Local Centre zone and Precinct overlay Figure 2 Proposed Special Character overlay and “zone of influence” 14 Consequently, limitations on development within this area would not adversely affect the overall aims of achieving intensification or a compact city. In contrast, it will promote a “quality” compact city. 15 The evidence also includes a discussion on the difference between historic heritage and heritage character, although I note that this has been subsequently covered in Panel Hearings and interim guidance issued by the Independent Hearings Panel (further discussed below). 16 The evidence also notes that St Heliers is the only one of the seven studies undertaken at the time not covered by a Business Special Character overlay, and concludes that the decision to make it a Precinct is not consistent with the St Heliers Character Statement and will result in adverse effects on its character and amenity, with respect to: • Proposed height • Proposed setback • Non- commercial development • Parking 17 I note, however, that the nature and magnitude of these effects varies within the centre, which is discussed later in my evidence. 18 I have reviewed the evidence of Mr Duguid, Mr Maxwell, Ms Mein and Mr Riley, and find no evidence that changes my view that the Special Character overlay is the most appropriate method to protect the special character values of St Heliers local centre. 19 Consequently, I do not support the proposed St Heliers Precinct changes and consider the single objective and two policies are completely inadequate to meet the purpose of the precinct. In addition, the development controls will enable a distinctly different character that fails to recognise or protect the heritage, special character and amenity of the environment and accordingly does not promote sustainable management of natural and physical resources. Assessment context 20 For the purposes of this assessment, the centre and proposed overlay is evaluated with regard to the existing environment and its urban design context. 21 Urban design is defined in the NZ Urban Design Protocol as follows: “Urban design is concerned with the design of the buildings, places, spaces and networks that make up our towns and cities, and the ways people use them. It ranges in scale from a metropolitan region, city or town down to a street, public space or even a single building. Urban design is concerned not just with appearances and built form but with the environmental, economic, social and cultural consequences of design. It is an approach that draws together many different sectors and professions, and it includes both the process of decision-making as well as the outcomes of design.” 22 From my reading of the evidence of Mr Duguid, Mr Matthews and Ms Mein (Topic 079), the Precinct overlay was essentially created as a result of legacy plan changes and Environment Court Decisions. 23 I also understand from legal counsel that Council may have erred when it decided that the Environment Court determined that St Heliers is not a special character area. 24 Although I was not involved in the previous case concerning Ancona properties and proposed redevelopment of Turua Street, I am aware that discussions largely centred on whether the existing 7 buildings on Turua Street had historic heritage significance. I am also aware that the majority of the buildings were all identified as ‘character-defining’ within the Operative St Heliers Centre Plan and the proposed development included the removal of two significant street trees (as well as other lesser trees). Council’s specialist urban designer was opposed to the demolition, stating that “the demolition.... is likely to cause adverse effects on the social, cultural and environmental wellbeing of St Heliers” and result “in a high level of visual and contextual change that is of major concern from an urban design perspective.”1 25 I also note that it appears that the difference between historic heritage and special character was not sufficiently addressed at that time and continues to be a challenging issue. 26 I note, for example, in paragraph 1.2 of Mr Matthews evidence he states “The Independent Hearings Panel (IHP) heard evidence from Auckland Council’s (Council) witnesses in November 2014 in relation to Topic 005 (RPS Issues) that proposed the term ‘special character’ be removed and the term ‘historic character’ be used to describe those areas whose character is primarily derived from historic values.” 27 While I agree that ‘historic character’ should be used for “areas whose character is primarily derived from historic values”, I do not consider the terms special character and historic character interchangeable and am concerned that some areas formerly identified 1 Request for urban design advice, Auckland City Environments, 24.11.08, 8-20 Turua Street, St Heliers – LUC 2007-511501, Nicola Williams as ‘Special Character’ have either been omitted because they do not meet the new ‘historic character ’ criteria or have been incorrectly renamed. 28 From my investigations, I consider St Heliers meets the criteria for Special Character because: • It is a place that retains and displays the characteristics of a particular era of human settlement and development 2; • It contributes to an understanding and appreciation of an area’s history and culture 3; • It demonstrates a measure of coherence based on a range of historic and physical qualities that contribute to an understanding of Auckland’s historic development 4; • It has a distinctive style or mix of styles and building types that reflect the development of an area 5; • It has a distinctive pattern of subdivision lot sizes, and street and road patterns 6; • It has a relationship of built form and natural landscapes to landscape context 7; • It has streetscape cohesiveness 8. 29 I also note that Ms Mein in her evidence states that historic heritage encompasses values that manage change and give effect to section 7 of the RMA as well as section 6(f), while Mr Matthews make a series of statements in relation to Eden Valley, Ponsonby and Upper Symonds Street that reinforce the interconnectedness of buildings to streetscape, the importance of building height in maintaining character, the potential 2 Para.