Twister's fate takes turn for the better

The council's arts committee members say Peter Roche's Twister is worth supporting. Photo / Supplied

A planned $5 million giant kinetic sculpture at the Viaduct Harbour has been given a lifeline shortly after losing the support of experts who oversee public art in Auckland City.

Plans for the 20m Twister, with its three vertices of swirling steel spirals ablaze with neon at night, have been around for 10 years, and were supported by the council.

It is the work of sculptor Peter Roche, who has another highly visible neon work, Coral, on the Vero Centre in the city.

But the council's advisory panel for public art, the urban design review team and public art manager Pontus Kyander have gone cool on Twister, saying plans for the area have changed radically in the past 10 years.

Despite this, the council's arts, culture and recreation committee says it will back the project if the Siteworks Contemporary Art Trust can raise the $5 million needed to build it.

Committee chairman Greg Moyle said it was a good project and if the trust could raise the money, the council would pay up to $205,000 to obtain resource consent.

The proposed location of the sculpture, at the end of the Halsey St wharf extension, would also be reviewed.

Trust spokesman Warren Pringle was quietly confident of raising the money, despite the difficulty of not having resource consent.

"It will be a beautiful work and will animate that area," he said.

Meanwhile, the council's city development committee yesterday confirmed the form and function of the Te Wero bridge linking the Viaduct Harbour with Jellicoe St at the Tank Farm.

It will be an opening bridge with a navigational width of at least 36m and providing for walking, cycling and public transport.

The council has delayed construction of the bridge to 2016, but provided $1 million for an interim solution.

This will provide access to a $27 million marine events centre at the Halsey St wharf extension that has been brought forward to be built in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Heart of the City has opposed the need for a 36m bridge, calling for restoration of the existing "rolling lift" heritage bridge at the Viaduct Harbour and questioned the use of buses on the bridge.