Growing pains on waterfront lead neighbours to court
Apartment owners in city claim new boatyard is too high, discovers
"People had no idea they would be looking up at a concrete wall between them and the harbour" Marc Potter, Wynyard Quarter Residents’ Association president
Down in the fast-expanding waterfront Wynyard Quarter, the water has turned choppy. Neighbours are at loggerheads. A star of the local marine services industry is ploughing $140 million into an ambitious boat service/commercial expansion of which only the first stage has emerged so far and much more is to come.
But already that has caused friction with some apartmentowning neighbours to Orams Marine upset. Their views of the waterfront and bridge are being blocked and they’re angry about new buildings, controversial as much for their soaring 24.9m height as for their unusual appearance: small arched windows, random slot holes in cement, leaving people asking “what’s that?”
They have filed High Court action, seeking a judicial review of how the structures got consent from Auckland Council.
But enthusiastic Orams chief executive Neven Barbour says people have misunderstood a lot about the new boat-servicing building.
He said the precast concrete panels on the Beaumont St face are architecturally designed by RTA Studio and the slots are for light to shine through, mirroring the Southern Cross.
The building, which cost more than expected, needs height in order to get superyachts and ferries inside, he said.
Orams has a long-term expansion plan to provide what Barbour says is vital infrastructure for the marine servicing businesses. One spar being worked on now is a soaring 40m high alone, and has its own mini-shed “town” with containers of experts working on it, he says, while taking the Herald on a tour on Thursday.
However, apartment owners remain upset about the height of new servicing sheds, built by the business majority owned by ASXlisted Ariadne Australia.
Marc Potter, president of the newly-formed Wynyard Quarter Residents Association Inc, said his group has filed the legal action against Auckland Council and Orams Group, seeking a judicial review over consent for the sheds in the $140m schemes. Top lawyer Brian Dickey’s name is on the association’s application, along with Julia Carlyon and David Wiseman of MC.
An application was lodged at the end of last week, Potter said, but whether it will be heard or when is unknown.
Potter, who owns two Wynyard Quarter apartments, said the association was founded this month and some people in the area were most unhappy about the new building, particularly its height.
The Beaumont St building is to service ferries, fishing vessels and superyachts, with one of the biggest heavy-lifting hoists in New Zealand operating.
“This is the most planned neighbourhood in New Zealand history, so what possibly could go wrong, people thought. Some people woke up in June and saw the structural steel start to rise on this new Orams Marine building. Because construction was so fast, they saw this building would be much higher than 18m. It will be 25.5m high which is more than eight levels,” he complained.
“Residents have only been in the quarter for a few years, so there’s a lot that’s been going on in terms of planning and building which people haven’t been around for or have just found out about. Many are just literally finding their feet. The resident situation is in startup mode,” Potter said. “Apartment buyers were shocked at the form and structure and more views were lost than were expected.”
“People looking from the Viaduct Harbour side were saying ‘oh, that’s pretty noticeable and I wonder if that will affect my access to the waterfront. It’s one big monolithic structure,” Potter said.
Residents of the new 30 Madden were most affected, particularly on the lower levels, he said.
“If you were a resident of the Madden St apartments and were looking forward to a view of the harbour and the Auckland Harbour Bridge, you’d be appalled to see this new building going up,” Potter said of the new twin-bay concrete marine services shed.
The Auckland Unitary Plan allows buildings on the Orams site to rise to only 18m, Potter says. That was arrived at after much deliberation. Towards the quarter’s centre, buildings can be higher.
“People had no idea they would be looking up at a concrete wall between them and the harbour.”
Consent was sought in 2018, Potter said. It was granted on a non-notified basis so none of the apartment owners knew about the height or bulk of the building.
“So in early June, many residents were surprised or raised concerns about contracts to buy apartments. The decision to grant consent was made after most people had already executed their purchase agreements,” Potter said.
Visual effects and lack of consultation on consent are central to the court action.
“If the development partner of Eke Panuku Auckland which owns the land under the new building can go against the planning rules without notifying the public and residents, what other rules are we relying on [that] can also be changed for the sake of development?”
Association members live in the Beaumont and Darby wings of 30 Madden developed by Willis Bond. More than 90 residents have contributed to the cost of the court
action and live in other Wynyard Quarter buildings.
“We don’t want to be perceived as a bunch of Nimbys. It’s simply the height of this building that also translates into the bulk that was unexpected.”
Orams’ Barbour is adamant that the expansion is in the interests of the city and New Zealand.
“This is about revitalising the Auckland waterfront down here at Westhaven so it’s vital infrastructure for repairing our boats, domestic boats, superyachts, the ferry fleet — and what we’ve done here is also come up with an
engineering solution that solved an environmental issue that was on Site 18. It’s unique to this site. It’s a world-class hub, it’s downtown Auckland, with hundreds of jobs. Many subcontractors work from here, probably in the vicinity of 150 different firms.”
Orams’ $140m will provide infrastructure for the next century, he says.
“Our development has been 10 years in the planning and we now have world-leading marine infrastructure that provides Auckland and New Zealand with vital export dollars. As well, the
Orams Marine complex provides hundreds of jobs and work for hundreds of marine companies that work on-site,” Barbour said.
Eke Panuku praised the Beaumont St expansion: “With the completion of stage one of two, the new site has an additional 12,000sq m hardstand, a water treatment plant, three 90m marina fingers and an 85-tonne and 820-tonne travel lift. The new additions allow Orams Marine to triple its capacity and haul out up to 80 per cent of the world’s superyacht fleet,” the council agency said.
The upgrade provided muchneeded maintenance facilities for a wide range of boats including ferries, fishing boats and private and commercial vessels.
Barbour said: “This development is the result of numerous studies focused on adding sustainable value to the marine industry and Auckland’s economy. As the marine industry continues to grow, Orams Marine is in an advantageous position to cater to demand.”
Asked about the height of the new sheds, Barbour says:
“Probably when everyone takes a hard look at it they will realise that any of the heights in the Wynyard Quarter were already on the plans and were already known,” he says.
The Government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development had given even more of a mandate to intensify the city and go higher with new developments, Barbour said.
Architects RTA Studio explained why the precast concrete panels on the newest buildings look like they do.
“The facade is broken into four gabled sections behind which there are, in fact, only two sheds and apertures sprinkle the surface. The window placement may seem random, but at night LED lights shine through and when viewed from afar, savvy stargazers might spot the distinct formation of the Southern Cross — a reference to the ancient navigators who first paddled their canoes up into this harbour,” the architects say.
Crucial to Wynyard Quarter’s regeneration vision was the goal to retain the maritime nature of the environment and Orams Marine Village — a fixture on the Auckland waterfront for the past 50 years — is central to the nautically nuanced built landscape, the architects said.
The High Court challenge says that before construction of the Orams Marine Village redevelopment, many apartments in 30 Madden with a westerly or northerly aspect had significant visual amenities — views over the Orams land to the Auckland Harbour Bridge and upper Waitemata Harbour.
Because the proposed office buildings and the now-built boatsheds exceeded the 18m height limit in the Auckland Unitary Plan, Orams was required to get discretionary activity consent, they argue. The council was therefore required to undertake a full assessment of the effects of the increase in height beyond the 18m limit before granting consent, the High Court challenge says.
The effects of the Orams Marine Village redevelopment on the visual amenity of owners and/or occupiers of 30 Madden were required to be considered, apartment owners say.
But Neven Barbour told the Herald this week Wynyard Quarter plans were developed more than 20 years ago when architect Patrick Clifford worked on the masterplan.
The city had changed significantly since then and it was time people realised more height was required and necessary for businesses like Orams to continue and grow.
Orams is also planning a new apartment building of more than 50m on the most northern end of its site opposite the popular Silo Park. It may enter a joint venture with another developer for this.