Call to give Devonport's 'ugly sisters' more than just patchy makeover

North Shore City Council has set aside $140,000 to leave the wharves tidy for the handover to the Auckland Council. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The two "ugly sisters" of Devonport are crying out across the Waitemata Harbour for the Super City to throw them a lifeline.

For much of the decade, residents of the maritime suburb have watched the deterioration of the Devonport Ferry Wharf building and the adjacent pier-like Victoria Wharf.

While plans are being made across the harbour to spruce up Queens Wharf as "party central" for the Rugby World Cup, all the Devonport ferry building can expect is a modest paint job.

The wharves' owner, the North Shore City Council, has set aside $140,000 to leave it tidy for the handover to the Auckland Council on November 1.

A year ago, the owners called for investors' proposals to redevelop one or both wharves, and city councillor Chris Darby described them as "8000sq m of prime real estate over the water".

But fellow councillor Dianne Hale said yesterday a working party decided it was best to leave options open and instead fully brief the new council on the need for multimillion-dollar improvements.

"It's an important gateway for tourists on ferry excursions from the downtown waterfront and part of the public transport system.

"It needs to be sensitively dealt with in a way which will be sustainable and not cheap and nasty. With all the hype over getting things done for the Rugby World Cup, we felt that rather than rush into something it was better to plan for the long term."

Working party feedback on Victoria Wharf, including from Devonport Heritage, favoured keeping it intact instead of demolishing the corroded bits of its structure.

"Clearly, the council was not going to have the money to preserve it and it was pointless to do a patch-up in that harsh environment," said Ms Hale. "You have to do things properly. It's one of the closest promontories to Auckland City and enjoyed by many."

The working party believed the wharves were so well linked to downtown Auckland's harbourside that they should be included in the master planning of the waterfront development agency, which is proposed by the Government and the agency designing the Super City.

Devonport Community Board chairman Mike Cohen said the proposed agency's area of concern left out Devonport.

"They should be looking at more than one side of the harbour."

The ferry wharf's importance for public transport and tourism meant it should also be looked at by the proposed Auckland Transport Authority and a council-controlled organisation for economic development, tourism and events.

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide said yesterday council-controlled organisations would be required to work with local boards in making priorities for assets.

"If local opinion favours particular projects, and they meet specific criteria, then it is expected they will be accorded priority," he said.

The North Shore City Council has told the agency designing the Super City that the waterfront agency's area took a narrow view of what constituted the harbour.

"We believe the scope of the council-controlled organisation should be wider and include other strategic waterfront assets close to the CBD but across the harbour, such as Devonport and Victoria wharves.

"This would provide a holistic and linked approach to the management of the harbour and development of tourist attractions around both sides of the inner harbour."

The Auckland City Council believes any decision to increase the territory of the waterfront development agency to include Devonport should be made by the Auckland Council.

Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney said the proposed area for the development agency even left out the port's central wharves.

Stretching the area to include Devonport was even further off the radar and its wharves would have to stand in the regional queue for money.