Great news today that the Environment Court has for the second time said no to demolishing the Harcourts building on Lambton Quay.
The decision just made public essentially has vindicated the Council position: that our District Plan sets a high bar for demolishing heritage buildings and that in this case, the bar was not reached.
Interestingly, the Court also found no fundamental conflict between the operation of the Building and Resource Management Acts and found that leaving the building standing would not fundamentally compromise public safety.
A warm thanks to Heritage New Zealand for leading the case and for the efforts they have made to save this building.
I'm all too well aware of the financial burden that a heritage and earthquake prone building can place on the owners but in this case the Court has found that it would be economic to strengthen this building and that such work would have benefits for the adjoining building, also the property of the owner of Hacourts.
Photo courtesy of stuff.co.nz
No comments:
Post a Comment