Building a Livable City

Iain from Devonport

One of the best things about local government on the North Shore is that in the whole of Auckland, the two local boards of Kaipātiki and Devonport-Takapuna are the only ones who open their workshop sessions to the public. At the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board workshop on Tuesday, 11 June, residents could see how a dysfunctional Auckland Council could turn the heart of Takapuna into a maze of drafty corridors.

Many in Takapuna are sick of the Anzac Street Carpark/Sunday Market issue. It’s created such controversy, wasn’t that settled with a public consultation and definitive result announced in August last year? Unfortunately, the devil is implementing and Takapuna stares at a disappointing future unless strong leadership emerges to drive rational consensus.

Council’s Planning Committee on March 6, 2018, directed the Local Board, Panuku (Council’s development arm), and North Shore ward councillors to work together to develop planning for the site. A small working group has been meeting to develop plans and last Tuesday’s Board workshop was a chance for residents to view the results.

For it’s part, the Local Board has engaged Landscape and Urban Architects Richard Reid and Associates (RRA) for advice on site layout for the proposed new town square. RRA have an enviable reputation for large-scale urban planning and design projects in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and are often engaged to provide expert advice to New Zealand’s Environment Court.

Reid’s report (link below) proposes that an area, slightly smaller than the hard area in front of the Aotea Centre, would adjoin Potters Park bounded with its historic tōtara and pohutukawa. The layout would present a clear line from St George’s Church through Hurstmere Green to the beach. In the middle, to my mind, the proposal would create an excellent sheltered and light-filled civic space that could support a lively community.

Panuku didn’t present a plan to the workshop. They had a slide presentation that showed some sun-shade diagrams of what their proposal might achieve. They were not enlightening, they weren’t prepared to reveal their plans. They mentioned Expressions of Interest for new buildings adjoining any public space had been sought from developers in March/April this year. Details were not yet finalised, but conditions could still be placed over the buildings’ heights.

Panuku’s plans proper have only appeared after the agenda for the Local Board Business Meeting on Tuesday, 18 June, was published. It takes the form of a Town Square and Public Realm Study by Isthmus (link below). Isthmus won a World Landscape of the Year 2016 award at the World Architecture Festival in Berlin. Their Vinegar Lane development in Ponsonby has been widely recognised by the NZIA and won at the Property Council NZ awards on Friday, 14 June. On their proposed Takapuna town square layout, pictured with this post, Isthmus identifies “building opportunities” in dark grey.

Isthmus’ proposal is not so much a square as an octopus, an analogy it uses to promote the connected nature of a central congregation area - “tentacles...extending into the surrounding neighbourhood”.

To my mind the proposal fails to deliver on the fundamental principle for a town square; a large welcoming area that feels “protected” and “enclosed” - a large outdoor “room”. Instead it proposes a wide “hallway” between buildings, a space you move through, rather than “meet” and “share”. Isthmus’ shading studies haven’t yet been revealed, and they would be helpful. The “Burger King” building at 488 Lake Road, in light-grey on the north-western boundary of the proposed “Isthmus” town square, can be built to 36.5 metres (9 -11 storeys). Imagine an 11 storey building straddling Bledisloe Lane (link below), joining Aotea Centre and Sky World Entertainment Centre - how cold Aotea Plaza would become.

The RRA shading diagrams show that a town square is a three dimensional space, not just formed by a two-dimensional site layout plan, but by the “walls” of buildings and “windows” of site-lines that surround it.

Have the parties, the Local Board, North Shore ward councillors, and Panuku done as the Planning Committee directed and worked together to achieve a planning outcome? They’ve made progress. There are areas of agreement and some principles they all support. The Board has sensibly taken independent professional advice and produced evidence to define community aspirations. Panuku appears well aware of public sentiment and the effect on the political process.

The Isthmus and RRA proposals have similarities - both leave the secondary issue of a car-parking solution aside. They both appear to deliver similar building opportunity totals that can realise the transformation. Which one is better?

Council’s role is not just about buildings and parks, it’s about creating and supporting communities. Pitting residents against developers, communities against each other, and citizens against Council bodies, is not building a liveable city. Strong leadership is needed to reach consensus.

Richard Reid & Associates Drawings, Report, and Shading Diagrams: drive.google.com...

Isthmus Town Square and Public Realm Study:
drive.google.com...

Isthmus:
isthmus.co.nz...

Bledisloe Lane: www.google.co.nz...