Church drops opposition to high-rise

The Catholic Church is not planning an Environment Court appeal against the 46-level Saffron apartments approved in Auckland last week.

The business manager for St Patrick's Cathedral, Kevin Sherlock, said he did not believe further opposition would succeed and the church had already spent $250,000 trying to stop the high-rise.

Gary Groves' Sanctuary Group got permission from Auckland City hearing commissioners to build the $45 million, 150-unit tower bordering St Patrick's Square metres from the cathedral.

The barrister acting for Sanctuary, Richard Brabant, was confident the tower would go ahead.

"I think you'll find Gary Groves will build it. It's all been presold," he said. The tower would be operated as serviced apartments. "We had all better hope he builds it because we need building activity."

Mr Brabant said planning had been fine-tuned to appease church interests.

Saffron's sites at 51-53 Albert St and 55 Albert St were in one of the few city areas zoned for high-rise residential development.

Owen McShane, director of the Centre for Resource Management Studies in Kaiwaka, said he was surprised at opposition to Saffron.

"It's dismaying that a church congregation would hope the tower would not go ahead when it would employ 200 to 300 people while being built ... It's a curious thing that while rage and fury is being expressed about people being laid off, still there's celebration when anyone stops a development."