Council's black look for red-chip paving

Heritage and neighbourhood groups are passionate about keeping the city's distinctive red-chip footpaths, which council officers are determined to ditch for black concrete, official documents say.

Papers released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show officers have no time for the line that red-chip footpaths add "character which is unique to Auckland".

Furthermore, the papers show staff did not consult heritage or neighbourhood groups in search of a "one-size-fits-all solution to the footpath finishes across the city" before preparing a policy change for councillors in May.

The councillors dashed officers' plans after raising questions about the costings and methodology of focus group research and asking them to get urban design advice in relation to neighbourhood character.

The policy change proposed in May said nothing about loss of character, although a draft report for councillors, dated May 4, contained a section headed "Diversity and unique character" and noted the "council seeks to protect and enhance the city's unique character".

This section was removed from the final May 9 report following feedback from chief executive David Rankin.

"The opening sentence, 'Diversity is one of the attributes that sets Auckland City apart from other cities', is not a relevant statement in this report and in fact undermines the fundamental proposition of this report, which is to promote consistency of look and feel," he said.

The papers showed residents' concern at the loss of red-chip footpaths, a feature of the city for about 50 years.

Murdoch Dryden contacted the council in February, saying he had recently moved from St Stephens Ave in Parnell where the new red-chip footpaths looked "bright and smart", to Rangitoto Ave in Remuera, where neighbours wanted a new red-chip footpath.

"The consensus is that the black oxide footpaths, where they have been installed locally, are dull and dreary," Mr Dryden said.

Residents around Mountain Rd in Epsom contacted the council through the law firm Bell Gully "extremely concerned that the character and iconic status of the area will be adversely affected" by the removal of red-chip footpaths. Under a 2003 agreement with the Hobson Community Board, Mountain Rd was due for a new red-chip footpath but got paved in black concrete.

Parnell Heritage chairman Rendell McIntosh yesterday said his group would like input into the footpath policy. Red chip was in keeping with the area and provided a softer, more welcoming feel for the heritage suburb.

Ponsonby heritage enthusiast Gerard Hill said red chip was "distinctively Auckland" and its ambience, appeal and warm, soft feel should be kept in the older suburbs.

Helen Laurenson, vice-president of the Epsom & Eden Historical Society, said she personally loved the "lovely warm colour" of red chip and enjoyed the nice contrast of red chip and grass verges to the greyness of roads.

The papers showed that in March officers proposed keeping red-chip footpaths within the 1980 pre-amalgamation boundaries of Auckland City but the executive team squashed the idea for "lack of any clear rationale".

In 2003, the council decided to use both red and black chip. In November 2004 senior officers unilaterally banned red chip because of perceived colour clashes between the paving and white vehicle crossings and problems matching old and new red paving.