Chairperson’s report for Devonport Heritage

For the Annual General Meeting– 15/11/22

This has been a huge year for Devonport Heritage. Since late year we began facing a serious threat to the very existence of the heritage protections we achieved in 1995 in the North Shore District Plan.

The government’s National Policy statement on Urban Design was quickly followed by the MDRS Act that meant higher density housing could occur everywhere in Auckland.

Our society quickly seized the moment to inform Devonport people of the risk to the Special Character Overlay protections that had been in place for 27 Years.

We did a letter drop, alerted our supporters, organised a petition that 2500 people signed, and got the message out via the media. As well we liaised with the Character Coalition which is an umbrella group for all Auckland’s heritage societies.

Together we worked on submissions to the Parliamentary select committee on the housing act and subsequently a feedback submission to the Auckland Council.

We were frustrated the Council did not fight back more strongly against the government’s over-riding of local democracy. Afterall only six years ago we went through an exhaustive process to ensure heritage protections were built into the Auckland Unitary Plan.

Like many Aucklanders we could see that intensive housing was already happening almost everywhere in Auckland and at great pace.

But it was happening with urban design guidelines and along transport corridors while the government’s intensification would be all over the place and have virtually no design requirements.

We agreed with Phil Goff’s statement that the Act would “create poor housing for poor people in poor areas”.

Auckland Council decided to re-examine all the city’s Special Character Overlay areas from mid last year and then made changes to some areas – in some parts of Auckland, quite drastic changes were proposed.

These were incorporated into Plan Change 78 which the council introduced in September to enact the government’s intensification dictates.

Most of Devonport is proposed to retain its Special Character overlay but the council proposes to allow three storey, three dwelling developments close to the boundaries in some parts of the suburb.

We oppose this because we believe that Devonport is a unique and highly intact and historic marine suburb, geographically almost an island with outstanding features like the maunga and the beaches.

This historic built environment and the natural features work together to make a coherent, consistent and unique place that should not be interrupted by out of character, large-scale developments.

September 29 was the deadline for submissions on Plan Change 78 and we were hugely grateful that we had a great team of experts to help us.

Planner Dave Serjeant was instrumental in ensuring we put the best possible case to defend a continuation of the existing protections.

It was also the deadline for Plan Change 82 which proposed changes to the Historic Schedule of places that included downgrading some Devonport houses and buildings.

We submitted on this and included a proposal to make Devonport’s main business area around Victoria Road an Historic Heritage Area.

This was a huge undertaking and our team of Richard Reid, Jeremy Salmond, Dave Serjeant and then Jackie Gillies produced a magnificent 110 page proposal that included a history of Devonport and of all the scheduled buildings in Victoria Road.

We’re especially grateful for Jackie Gillies work – she’s a recently retired heritage architect who had the perfect skills to put the case that the high value of the Victoria Road heritage buildings, together with the streetscape and historic context made the main street an outstanding historic area.

Finance

When locals became aware of the threats to Devonport’s heritage protections early this year, we began receiving donations, large and small.

In total we received $19,000 in donations, raised $5500 from the screenings of our heritage restoration film in May and also gained 40 new supporters.

We have made payments for some of our expert advice and at present have nearly $13,000 in the bank.

We are pleased that our new treasurer, Carole Pedder, a local and also the partner of a chartered accountancy firm, will ensure our finances will remain on sound footing.

Committee

I am grateful that these existing members will remain on the committee – Mike Eaglesome, Bill Raynor and Bernice Beachman. As well we have some new members: Bruce Grant, Loreen Ozolins and Carole Pedder and also Trish Deans who is rejoining the society.

These office holders have been confirmed for a further year: Avril Cowie as secretary, Carole Pedder as treasurer, Trish Deans as deputy chairperson and Margot McRae as chair.

Our main focus for the next year will be to make a strong case that Devonport should remain a protected heritage area to the Independent Hearings Panel on Plan Change 78.

We are confident with the expert assistance of Dave Serjeant, Jackie Gillies and Jeremy Salmond we can convince the Panel that all of Devonport should remain a Special Character Area if this unique and beautiful place is to survive.

Margot McRae
Chairperson
Devonport Heritage