Think tank on the Tank Farm

Runners head past the Tank Farm during the Loaded Hog 5km fun run yesterday. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

Ideas are flowing into the Herald about how to make the Tank Farm better for Aucklanders, whether they propose a striking piece of architecture on the headland or turning the harbourfront land into a race track for the V8s.

One message, though, is coming through loud and clear: The headland jutting out into the Waitemata Harbour should not become multi-storey apartments. There is a growing feeling that this area should be turned into a giant waterfront park, like Sydney's Botanic Gardens.

As Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney says: "The proposal to build four to six-storey apartments and offices on the headland of the Tank Farm is a waste of land and misses a great opportunity for Aucklanders."

Some Aucklanders go further. Their suggestions include a beautifully designed sustainable energy plant as the ultimate cultural statement and a new harbour crossing from the Tank Farm, to free up land for housing between St Marys Bay and Westhaven.

Four ideas

Peter Hollenstein
Auckland architect

In a nutshell, my view is that the whole area north of Jellicoe St should be set aside for a park and other public uses.

The park and public space across the entire headland is crucial because Auckland has no green, open park space at the harbour edge. Sydney's Mrs Macquarie's Pt and Botanic Gardens provide a fantastic green oasis alongside the CBD.

The Tank Farm Park I am proposing will be of a similar size to Albert Park. We need this and nothing less because the city's pressure to provide for open space is increasing at an unprecedented rate. In today's busy work environment, workers and residents are seeking surroundings that are calm and relaxing.

The park does not constitute an anti-development stance. It is more a stance of providing contrasts: intensity versus calm, narrowness versus width and openness. A wonderful contrast could be created by the green openness of the park against the backdrop of a well thought out, intensely built-up area full of commercial, residential and retail hustle and bustle.

Dushko Bogunovich
Associate professor of urban design, Unitec

Auckland must think hard about what the economy of the 21st century is going to be about and then offer the world what it needs.

What hasn't been done yet - and some cities with visionary mayors and developers are now considering this - is a waterfront entirely self-sufficient in energy, water and waste disposal.

Let's build a beautifully designed wind, sun and sea-powered and/or hydrogen plant on the Tank Farm and show the world that having a city that generates locally clean and safe energy is the ultimate cultural statement. It could be part of a museum of the future or an art and technology gallery.

Don't imitate the rest of the growing global "iconic building" brigade. The industrial era is over, we are now in the age of the cultural economy. This kind of reasoning has delivered a global glut in museums and art galleries.

Richard Simpson
Auckland City councillor, transport committee chairman

The Tank Farm is some of the most contaminated land in the country and offers the opportunity for a more direct bridge connection to Onewa Rd on the North Shore - a fantastic new bridge with road, rail, cycleway and walkway. Fanshawe St and Victoria Park could connect easily to Westhaven, and a waterfront tram could run from St Heliers to Westmere.

The maritime industry could surround the bridge, and a better quality of housing and open space could be developed on the land in front of St Marys Bay.

The existing Auckland Harbour Bridge and the motorway from Beaumont St could be sacrificed. The bridge alienates the harbour from the city and isolates one of the City of Sails' icons: Westhaven. The bridge's "nippon clip-ons" are facing fatigue issues in the next decade, which needs addressing in the greater scheme of the waterfront.

This would free up 150,000sq m of some of the most expensive waterfront real estate in New Zealand, worth more than $2 billion. To top it off, it could be self-funded by the staged release of the motorway land and St Marys Bay residents would be freed of the 24/7 invasion of noise and pathogenic fumes.

The waterfront offers Auckland a unique canvas for exciting potential, a punctuation mark for this city to solve problems and make an international statement.

We should not be banking the future of Auckland on a bad decision - the harbour bridge - made 50 years ago. The bridge is cheap, steep and limited to motor vehicles.

Greg McKeown
On behalf of Heart of the City

Let's build a new island off the end of the Tank Farm linked by an architectural bridge of open space, walkways and cycleways on land that has never been contaminated. This new regional park would encourage quality development on the Tank Farm and anchor a necklace of public open spaces on the harbour front.

It would also provide calmer passage for small boats between Viaduct Harbour and Westhaven, more sheltered anchorage for the fishing fleet, and new land and water-based recreational opportunities.

If the Ports of Auckland can reclaim 9.4ha for cargo movement in the east, why don't we do the same for the people in the west?

The key concept is that our thinking should not be limited by the geometry of all of Auckland's wharves. The Ports of Auckland should be contained in the east, while the "people's waterfront" should be in the centre and the west. In the centre of town, the ports company should move its banana and car importing activities off Queens and Captain Cook wharves sooner rather than later, so we can use the space to build more public open spaces and a broad-based economy.

On the waterfront

Auckland City planners and architects are calling for a bold vision for the development of the 35ha waterfront land around the western reclamation area. Here are some other suggestions:

Native bush and bird sanctuary
Maori village
Wave pool
Fun park
Statue park
Apartments, apartments, apartments
Theme park
Communal vege patch
A large rock climbing wall
A large carpark
... or simply return it to the harbour.

What do you think? The Herald would like to hear your views. Email us at the link below.

Public submissions

Aucklanders can have their say on the rules for the Tank Farm by sending views to the Auckland City Council before March 17.

The council wants feedback before notifying a district plan change on May 31 to rezone the land from marine industrial activities to marine, commercial, residential and open space use.

Once the plan change is notified and goes through the Resource Management Act process, the public will have another chance to comment.

To get a form call the council on (09) 379-2020 or visit the council website.