Solution to Heritage in Auckland

This week in Auckland a presentation from a Brisbane Architect  Peter Marquis - Kyle.

Regrettably the New Zealand  Herald in an editorial today chose  not support his proposals .

These proposals have been policy in Brisbane since 1992  and have served Brisbane well . I am confident if they were adopted in Auckland they would    also serve  Auckland well .

 Your editorial proposing that the Auckland Council not accept the Character Coalition’s well researched plan is surprising especially as Devonport has something similar. Brisbane’s conservation architect Peter Marquis–Kyle’s evidence is compelling.

In 1992 Brisbane doomsayers also claimed that such a policy would restrict growth and harm the Brisbane economy. The opposite happened by protecting housing stock it enhanced the community.

Hospitals, railway stations and other amenities are complemented by these neighbourhoods. They help provide a liveable city.

Marquis-Kyle’s presentation showed that this proposal had not stopped development. Indeed Brisbane is growing faster than Auckland.

By protecting housing stock and the heritage neighbourhoods it has made Brisbane a better place. Business thrives.

Heritage is not anti development. It is about the place we live. It is more than the story of an individual dwelling and that is not to say an individual house cannot be important, it is the neighbourhoods, the streets themselves which make a district or a city. The Brisbane Plan has achieved that. A similar plan can only make Auckland a better place