KEY POINTS:
The Sky Tower's emergency and commercial telecommunications operations are said to be under threat from the new 67-level Elliott Tower planned for Auckland.
SkyCity, the listed casino, cinema and hotel business, strongly objected to the new monster tower because it could interfere with crucial telecommunications operations from its Sky Tower, including emergency services.
If the Elliott Tower is built, new technical equipment would need to be installed on the Sky Tower to continue transmissions, and some antennas would need to be shifted, according to SkyCity.
Marcus Beveridge, the lawyer for Elliott Tower developer Dae Ju Housing of South Korea, said a group of neighbours had opposed the 259-unit tower, but opposition was strongest from SkyCity.
Elliott Tower has just got resource consent approval from Auckland City and Multiplex are expected to begin construction on the Elliott/Albert/Victoria St site soon.
Kiwi Income Property Trust, which owns the National Bank twin towers, and retailer Smith & Caughey had issues with the proposed Elliott Tower, Mr Beveridge said, but SkyCity was most vehement, presenting evidence to an Auckland City hearing commissioners' panel chaired by Leigh McGregor last month that Elliott Tower would cause interference to radio frequency transmissions.
The new tower's height was of "great concern" to SkyCity because of:
* Its effect on the iconic status of the Sky Tower, a beacon for the CBD.
* The impact it would have in blocking telecommunications and broadcast signals from the transmission facilities in the upper parts of the Sky Tower.
* The impact of radio frequency emissions from the Sky Tower's equipment on apartments in the upper levels of Elliott Tower.
SkyCity called for Elliott Tower to be chopped down in height. It could now take its case to the Environment Court.
But the hearings commissioners put the onus back on SkyCity to ensure its tower operated effectively.
Auckland City's urban design panel was satisfied with Elliott Tower's overall height and design quality, which would make a positive contribution to the central area skyline, the commissioners said.
The city's rules did not ban construction of tall buildings such as Elliott Tower, nor would the new tower infringe on sightlines or sunlight planes that might otherwise require a height reduction.
"The Sky Tower itself does not enjoy a protected status so far as its height or appearance is concerned," the commissioners found.
"The argument presented at the hearing was that the obstructions would result in inconvenience in that some repeaters would be required to be installed, and that some existing antennas would be required to be relocated.
"While this would result in some cost to those operators who would be affected, it was not suggested that these technical adjustments would be impossible to achieve.
"The construction manager for Dae Ju advised that the residential tower would take approximately 21/2 years to complete, meaning that this timeframe is available for any adjustments to the facilities to be implemented," the commissioners found.
They said significant development could be expected in the central business district and it would be ongoing.
"The proposed tower reinforces the primacy of the CBD, while the tower's setback from Elliott St acknowledges the important pedestrian environment envisaged for that area."
