Coney calls for sheds to be kept

Sandra Coney says the sheds are heritage buildings. Photo / Martin Sykes

Auckland Regional Council parks and heritage chairwoman Sandra Coney broke ranks yesterday with the organisation's initial vision for the redevelopment of Queens Wharf.

Although the wharf's two 1912 cargo sheds are missing from the council's preliminary concept drawings for a cruise ship terminal, Ms Coney described them as "heritage buildings" and sought an assurance that they would be included in a design brief .

She called at a transport committee meeting for their preservation to be considered in the context of historic maritime buildings to have survived redevelopment along Quay St.

Auckland City has proposed incorporating the cargo sheds into wharf development plans, in contrast to the regional council's preliminary vision of a new three-storey ship terminal.

ARC chief Peter Winder said entrants in a design competition could incorporate both old and new into their entries.

But council chairman Mike Lee said: "Unlike the substantial buildings on the Wellington waterfront, the Queens Wharf sheds were cheap and nasty when they were first built. Now they are old and decrepit, they are still cheap and nasty."

However, he acknowledged that there could be some value "in recycling some of the internal timber decking".