Judge reserves decision on art deco cottages

Protestors rejoice after demolition of three art deco cottages in St Heliers is held off. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A judge has reserved his decision on whether to stop the demolition of three art deco houses in the Auckland suburb of St Heliers.

Heritage advocacy group Save Our St Heliers Society is seeking an enforcement order to stop the demolition of the Spanish mission-style houses on Turua St after a last-minute interim order was made last week.

Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook this morning indicated he would make a decision today given the significant public interest and the disruption the case was causing the developer. Instead he reserved his decision until 3pm tomorrow as the day's proceedings took longer than expected.

The society's lawyer, David Kirkpatrick, argued that consent to demolish the buildings was granted by the former Auckland City Council without considering previous reports on the buildings which pertained to their heritage value.

"The council knew or should have known that the removal of the houses was of great concern because of their heritage value when considering granting consent," he said.

Mr Kirkpatrick also pointed out the buildings' heritage values, which were significant to the character of St Heliers, and argued that their demolition would be offensive and objectionable to the community.

Lawyer for developer Ancona Properties, Richard Brabant, said the society's evidence fell well short of showing that the buildings had significant heritage values or merit.

Mr Brabant said a heritage assessment was in fact carried out by the council's principal heritage adviser and this did not support saving the houses.

Furthermore, an independent assessment of the buildings found they were in poor condition and should be demolished.

Should the enforcement order be granted, it would indefinitely prevent demolition of the buildings but would still be subject to further court orders.

- NZPA