Design curbs ignored for years: lawyer

A planning barrister has criticised Auckland City's design crackdown, saying the authority held the powers to implement the changes years ago but refused to use them.

Richard Brabant, who established the specialist planning practice of Environmental Law Chambers on Princes Wharf, questioned last week's system overhaul.

He said the courts had already shown the council had extensive powers. Last year's landmark judgment on the St James apartment application by Justice Patrick Keane in the High Court at Auckland showed the council had the chance to crack down on poor design long ago.

"The council has let all this junk be built and said it didn't know it had the power to use what was already in the Resource Management Act," he said of the council, which has begun making changes by imposing minimum apartment sizes.

When the St James judgment was released, Auckland City planning manager John Duthie said the case had shown the council more powers "than we thought we had".

Brabant also called for the council to protect the Jean Batten Building.

He criticised the exterior design of the Vero Centre and the new Lumley Tower on Shortland St, saying they were disappointing examples of new buildings and "very ordinary".

Brabant, who charges $450 an hour, said he had been involved in about 200 resource consent appeals and had won more than three-quarters of his cases.

Clients pay a $40,000 to $50,000 fee for a two-day Environment Court hearing. This includes legal fees and the cost of expert witnesses.

"I think it is most difficult for people opposing a building - if you are on the other side and applying, there's a financial return on the investment."