Earthquake safety priorities set
At least one Palmerston North heritage building is likely to be left straddling the boundary of streets where earthquake strengthening has to be fasttracked.
The number of streets proposed to be designated priority routes for work to prevent unreinforced masonry collapsing on to footpaths and roads has been reduced after public consultation.
However, the removal of Taonui St from the list has left the old Cosmopolitan Club building with a facade facing Cuba St that will still be captured by the rules.
Building owner John Browning had earlier urged the council to be more sensible about its priorities and to target high-risk areas first.
He said he was pleased Taonui St had been exempted after all. However, the Cosi Club building’s canopy on Cuba St extended into Taonui St, so he expected that would mean work carried out on Cuba St would have to be continued around the corner anyway.
Owners of buildings within the priority routes have 71⁄ years to fix earthquake risks or demolish the buildings, half of the 15 years allowed for buildings elsewhere.
Council senior planner Jono Ferguson-pye said officials needed to balance the interests of public safety against the burden on owners having to invest in earthquake-strengthening.
Staff had accepted arguments that its original blanket approach to cover most of the inner and outer business zones had been too extensive. However, they had also taken into account likely future use of some quiet streets where the council was working on revitalisation plans to encourage more people into the central city.
The latest proposal exempted Taonui St; Cuba St from Lombard to Pitt ; parts of Main, Princess and Linton streets; and Queen and King streets.
Building services head Leigh Sage said the original map might have affected about 65 unreinforced-masonry buildings, many of them heritage structures, but he could not say how many fewer were caught in the pared-back version.
Policy planner Matt Mackay said the law only required the council to identify its priority routes, not count all the buildings that might be affected.
Browning said he thought the council might have been more concerned about understanding the numbers, and the potential disruption and costs involved.
‘‘I would have thought council would be very interested in minimising costs, assessing impact on tenant businesses, and hence assessing avenues of efficiency surrounding consenting, minimising the time ... streets are under scaffolding.’’
Mayor Grant Smith said he was worried about the potential loss of heritage buildings if owners decided they could not afford to comply with requirements to carry out work on them. ‘‘The 71⁄2 years will roll around pretty quickly.’’
Mayor Grant Smith said he was worried about the potential loss of heritage buildings.