A recent Environment Court (EC) decision has threatened thousands of “Special Character Homes” in our local areas by allowing owners to demolish their houses without input from the community.
Known as the “Crescent Rd, Epsom decision”, the Court’s ruling in July opened the door to owners of these Character Homes to by-pass notifying neighbours and the wider community of their intentions, to demolish them and potentially rebuild houses that are vastly different from their neighbours’ historic homes.
In Auckland, under the Unitary Plan, there are 50 “Special Character Areas (SCA’s)” that encompass a broad variety of eras, styles, materials and building uses from the city’s history, covering a total of 23,337 properties. SCA’s are an overlay mechanism used by Auckland Council to “retain and manage” specific demarcated areas of the city’s special character. Auckland’s Unitary Plan clarifies Special Character as “collective and cohesive values, importance, relevance and interest” embodied by specific neighbourhoods in the city.
Auckland’s Special Character houses have been labelled “unrivalled in the world in scale and quality” by an Auckland University researcher.
They cover an area of 14.8kms, but occupy under 2.6% of the city’s urbanised area and only 0.3% of the Auckland Unitary Council’s total land area. A total of 471 of these homes are located in Herne Bay.
A Worrying Precedent
The EC decision gave consent to demolish a 1920’s bungalow in Crescent Rd Epsom, in original condition, and replace it with a new house, creating a precedent that can be used by others in Special Character Areas (SCA’s) to demolish their original houses. The Court also encouraged the Council to allow this without notification to neighbours. The application to demolish the Crescent Rd house had been notified and was opposed by 18 local residents and a number of heritage organizations.
Despite ranking 6/6 on a recent Auckland Council survey of SCA’s, the Environment Court stated that “the contribution this (Epsom) property makes to the special character of this area is modest.”
Leading the fight against the decision is the Character Coalition, a group of organizations with the aim of protecting and enhancing the character and heritage of Auckland and to engage with community groups on how to best recognise, protect and enhance character and heritage.
Of major concern to the Coalition is the precedent that Auckland Council will take the Crescent Rd decision as a green light to deal with all future applications to demolish houses in the SCA’s on a non-notified basis and grant them.
Says the Coalition: “The first the people in an SCA will know about it is when the wreckers arrive and demolition begins. The eventual result will be the destruction of our SCA’s from ‘death by a thousand cuts.’ “
The Coalition is attempting to raise $50,000 to fight the Crescent Rd decision in an appeal that is expected to be heard on March 11, 2025. It has received advice from its counsel, Bronwyn Curruthers KC, that there were a number of errors in law in the EC decision. The Coalition has set up a “Give a little “page to help with the appeal funding. Contributions can be made through Give a little or directly to the Society’s bank account No 38-9018-0149322.
Auckland Unrivalled in Scale and Quality
A report by Post-graduate Auckland University Student Joshua Howie (Masters in Architecture and Heritage Conservation) on Auckland’s Special Character Areas, found that Auckland was unrivalled in “the scale and consistency of its areas of ornate timber colonial architecture”, even when compared to Brisbane and Melbourne, cities known for their heritage buildings.
He said: “Furthermore, this architecture and its streetscapes are in and of themselves endemic to Auckland, entirely unique globally, making Auckland’s Special Character Areas “a taonga’.
“Auckland’s Special Character Areas encompass a rare gem in global urbanism, a taonga-a collection of documented and protected timber architecture from the 19th and 20th centuries “unrivalled world-wide in scale and quality.”
Economic and Social Benefits
The Special Character Areas have been consistently found to positively impact both property values and sale prices. Studies have proven that houses located within the SCA’s had a 4.3% price premium over non-SCA houses sold in Auckland over a 10-year period in the mid 2000’s, suggesting that the Special Character amenity and its preservation were attractive for home buyers.
A specific study on properties found that SCA-designated houses in Freemans Bay and Onehunga to be 33% and 9% greater in value respectively than their respective non-designated counterparts.
A London study found that “green and peaceful residential environments” to be a desirable feature consistently listed by residents in every conservation area the study undertook “no matter their location, level of deprivation or property premium.”
Renovations Are No Problem
Although all repair or renovation work to the Special Character homes needs a Resource Consent, Auckland Council reports that 99.9% of consents are approved, but many with revisions that ensure the Special Character is retained.
The Coalition says that renovations are not really a concern as they are generally to the rear of the properties (to add bedrooms, decks, updated kitchens and bathrooms and the like) and sometimes can improve the character of the area by restoring features that have been removed or replacing previous “unsympathetic” modifications.
The Threat from PC 78 (Intensification)
This Plan Change that proposes to intensify inner city suburbs, particularly St Mary’s Bay, may have a major impact on Character Areas. PC 78 proposes to reduce the number of homes in SCA’s from the current 23,337 to about 14,000. There is no date sent down for hearings yet, but this removal of their SCA protection will definitely be fought hard by those in Special Character areas, especially those who have gone to the trouble and expense of ensuring until now that changes to their properties have been in keeping with the character of their area.
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