Unitary plan Hearings- Pre 1944 Demolition and Historic Character Areas
Claudia Page
This Friday, 12 June we will be speaking at the hearings for Historic Character Areas and the Pre-1944 no-demolition overlay. These are critical topics for the future of heritage character, - whether it be residential or commercial areas. Devonport Heritage is hoping the commissioners will confirm the Victoria Road and surrounding commercial area as a Historic Character Business area, as was argued for in Plan Change 33. This plan change was adopted by Auckland Council in February 2014, but was too late to be included in the plan which had already been notified.
The pre-1944 overlay if adopted, will mean there is a precautionary approach to demolition in some areas , for example the parts of Devonport north of the golf course, isolated local business areas like corner shops etc. Work is underway on evaluations to check whether there are any buildings or groups of buildings in these areas which might be scheduled either individually or as Historic Character Areas in future. The main areas of Devonport, Cheltenham, Stanley Bay etc already have the Historic Character Area overlay which under North Shore City was the Residential 3 Built Heritage zone. We will be strongly advocating for strong rules to maintain protection for these areas.
