Tank Farm proposals scaled down

Plans for high-rise buildings on Auckland's Tank Farm are being scaled back after the issue topped the public's list of concerns for development of the prime waterfront site.

Instead of a "spine" of 10-to-16-storey buildings along Daldy St, the Auckland City Council is now looking at no more than about five 16-storey buildings in the 27ha main commercial block between Victoria Park and Jellicoe St.

The council is still planning four-to-six-storey buildings on the 8ha headland jutting out in the Waitemata Harbour north of Jellicoe St.

The backdown comes as formal plans for the mammoth project are delayed and a panel of eminent architects explore options for the public's desire for more open space and fewer apartments on the publicly owned headland.

Options from the panel - Professor John Hunt, Craig Moller, Ian Athfield and Will Thresher - are expected to be made public before the council releases its plan change to rezone the land from marine industrial to marine, commercial, residential and open space use. Notification of the plan change has been pushed back from May 31 for up to a month.

A resounding 76 per cent of the 1465 public submissions on the council's draft plans said there was not enough open space. More commented on the proposed height restrictions.

Council and Auckland Regional Council staff have been lobbied by an Auckland resident, Neville Thompson, who produced his own photographic images of the effect of the building heights from various city locations.

Mr Thompson said the proposed building heights would block views of the harbour, North Shore and Rangitoto from Freemans Bays, St Marys Bay and Ponsonby and views of the harbour, Westhaven Marina and Harbour Bridge from various buildings in the city. Views would also be lost from the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

The photographic images have alarmed city and ARC councillors, but drawn a cautious response by planners who said they were out of scale.

Auckland City central area planning manager Vijay Lala said the council was doing its own "accurate" three-dimensional montages showing the effects on views from different heights and blocks of buildings.

Sites chosen included the Viaduct Harbour, Harbour Bridge, St Marys Bay, Freemans Bays, Hopetoun Bridge, Devonport and the Chelsea Sugar Works.

The images would be made public next month, he said.

Mr Lala said as a result of public feedback the council now believed four or five 16-storey buildings were appropriate to provide a variety of heights instead of a "block effect" of buildings of the same height.

The plan was to create space between the tall buildings, an idea which has the backing of the Institute of Architects' urban issues group.

Mr Lala said the council could control tall buildings at the Tank Farm by nominating sites and maximum floor plate sizes in the plan change, or allowing developers to build high-rises according to criteria and standards such as street corner sites, along a dedicated spine and separation distance.


Prime site

Tank Farm - the latest developments:
* Auckland City Council proposes no more than five high-rises.
* Plan change to rezone 35ha waterfront put back about a month.
* Architects John Hunt, Craig Moller, Ian Athfield and Will Thresher exploring options for more public space and fewer apartments on headland.