Humble pie over Vulcan Lane upgrade

Auckland City chief executive David Rankin has conceded that staff mishandled the Vulcan Lane makeover that outraged fashion leaders and brought public condemnation.

The experience had taught the council a lesson about the need to listen to people and act on their concerns, he said.

The admission is a reversal by Mr Rankin, who said in July he was satisfied that staff had made every effort to undertake genuine consultation, and insisted it was "not a case of the council driving a bulldozer through".

But when documents, released to the Herald under the Official Information Act, showed officers repeatedly refused to consider ideas they did not like for Vulcan Lane, Mr Rankin asked his executive team manager, David Walker, and former council director, Grant Kirby, to look into the processes.

The investigation found that the CBD project team did not consider options to meet the "upgrade" requirement. Steps of the process were followed but no one paid heed to the feedback.

Frustration over the consultation led some of the country's biggest fashion names, with overwhelming public backing, to object to the 1960s red pebble pavers being torn up for bluestone as the lane would look "bland [and] homogenous".

The pavers were saved last month when councillors rejected a last-minute pitch by council officers, led by Mr Rankin, to rip them up and replace them with replicas.

One of the fashion leaders who led the revolt, Andrew Bishop, said it was clear officers put their agenda to "upgrade" the lane ahead of the wishes of local businesses and a majority of Aucklanders to keep the pavers.

A small group made up of a councillor, a stakeholder and a council officer should oversee the restoration project to ensure the job was done right, he said.

"We don't really trust them after what we have been through."