St Heliers Three get stay-of-execution
Time set for "quickfire" public interest hearing on threatened art deco houses.
Under threat St Heliers houses are safe until at least 5 pm on Wednesday for a “quickfire” public interest Environment Court hearing into whether or not they have life-saving heritage value.
Following determined protest action by hundreds of citizens Judge Laurie Newhook this afternoon ordered a special hearing at which the central issue is whether the heritage status of Turua Street houses was expressly raised at an earlier resource consent hearing – or ignored by the Auckland city council.
Judge Newhook said it was clearly a matter of public interest.
Save Our St Heliers barrister David Kirkpatrick said heritage matters in an urban design report favourable to the survival of the houses were not considered in the consent decision.
In what he described as the shortest time he had granted for such a hearing, Judge Newhook extended an interim enforcement order made on Thursday from 4 pm Monday until 5 pm Wednesday.
His decision came at a courtroom conference at which developers Mike and Sandra Markham’s company Ancona Properties wanted the interim enforcement order struck out.
In what he said was a “pressure cooker” case, Judge Newhook said Thursday’s interim enforcement order was a “knife-edge decision” because the bulldozers were onsite and ready to demolish the houses.
National Business Review publisher Barry Colman is funding the protestors’ legal case.
Jock Anderson
Fri, 21 Jan 2011
Fri, 21 Jan 2011
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St Heliers Three get stay-of-execution
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