Auckland City acts to protect character of early town centres

Traditional buildings in funky neighbourhoods such as Grey Lynn, Mt Eden and Kingsland are being given greater protection to preserve the character of the areas.

To protect Victorian and Edwardian buildings in some of the city's early suburban town centres, the Auckland City Council has introduced "character overlays" to restrict demolition or alterations.

New buildings will also have to be sympathetic to the existing town-centre character in the six centres of Grey Lynn, West Lynn, Kingsland, Ellerslie, Eden Valley and upper Symonds St.

The council has also approved "centre plans" for Mt Eden and the St Heliers seaside village to preserve character buildings, introduce traffic controls and design guidelines.

Planning and regulatory chairwoman Glenda Fryer said the areas had their own special character and the aim was to keep the architectural qualities that gave these town centres a unique identity.

"This should ensure that the development of these areas occurs in a controlled and managed way which enhances and promotes the character of these areas," she said.

"These areas have their own special character and we want to retain the architectural qualities that give these town centre their unique identity."

Eastern Bays community board chairman Brian Slater said he believed the community had got about 70 per cent to 80 per cent of what it wanted to safeguard against "willy nilly" development in St Heliers.

The trigger for the centre plan was a four-storey, monolithic-clad apartment building in Turua St and fears it would set a trend of apartment-dwellers pushing out businesses.

Lindsey Rea, chairwoman of the Eden Albert community board, said it was important to protect the ambience of suburban centres such as Mt Eden and Kingsland because that was what drew people to them.