What are the chances of survival for the St Heliers houses? (UPDATED)

The future of a row of art deco houses in the Auckland seaside suburb of St Heliers is likely to be decided today at a hearing in the Environment Court in Auckland, with two previous similar cases at the centre of the argument.

The houses, which have been on death row at the hands of developer Mike Markham’s Ancona Group, have been the focus of an increasingly fraught legal battle.

The Save Our St Heliers group successfully got an 11th hour injunction in the Environment Court last week to temporarily prevent the developers from demolishing the buildings.

The Environment Court will tomorrow morning hear arguments from the relevant parties. An interim enforcement order originally due to end yesterday afternoon was extended until 5pm today.

Any outcome is likely to be influenced by a two previous judgments, Pritchard v the New Plymouth City Council and Donnelly v the Gisborne District Council.

In the Pritchard case, in 1997 New Plymouth’s Arcadia Hotel was saved from demolition at the last minute.

Architect Ian Pritchard sought an injunction to save the 1890 timber building.

It was granted “in haste” as the demolition of the building had already commenced – just as it had last week on the St Heliers properties.

The Pritchard injunction was granted in order to allow the parties to prepare fuller cases for consideration by the court.

However, it took a full two years – until March 1999 – for a final decision to be made, and the hotel was saved by one vote in the council’s environment committee.

In Donnelly (1999), an unsuccessful mayoral candidate, Thomas Donnelly, saved Gisborne’s historic Peel Street toilets from demolition.

The toilet buildings, described as “stripped classical” and “Edwardian, were designed and constructed in 1921 at the hands of famous engineer JA McDonald, who died nine years later by his own hand.

The Peel Street toilets were the last known building Mr McDonald designed in New Zealand and were considered by many Gisborne residents to have significant heritage value.

While Mr Donnelly expressed grave concerns that a lack of ablution facilities in a central location would “create difficulties” for people in the city who wish to relieve themselves – claiming that people would be “forced to relieve themselves in doorways” – Environment Judge RG Whiting said the issue at hand was a heritage matter, not a practical one.

The judge made an enforcement order to prohibit the council from demolishing the buildings, saying that to do so would mean its heritage value “as reflected in its architectural style” and its historical perspective “will be forever lost to the community.”

Ancona Group’s investment in the project is substantial. A statement to the court last week by Mr Markham said the project costs so far have been $1.5 million, while the overall cost of the proposed office, shops and apartment project stands at $11 million.

Property records obtained by NBR show Ancona Group paid more than $7 million for five of the six properties.

It also paid $3,350,000 for the number 15 Turua St property and a further unknown sum for the number 12 property. 

Today's hearing centres on whether a heritage assessment should be undertaken.

Due to mounting legal costs, it is possible that Mr Markham will consent to an assessment.

The Save Our St Heliers group's Environment Court action is being funded by NBR publisher Barry Colman.