Architect scathing of garden
Wellington’s proposed Chinese garden has come under fire from an architect who says the structure would drastically reduce open space and accessibility at the waterfront park it would sit on.
The $5 million Garden of Beneficence – part of Wellington City Council’s planned $10.5 million revamp of Frank Kitts Park – is the subject of Environment Court appeals from lobby group Waterfront Watch and former Greater Wellington regional councillor Michael Gibson.
Architect and urban designer Richard Reid, director of Citymakers Richard Reid and Associates, said in court yesterday the proposed garden would significantly reduce accessibility at the park and ‘‘close down’’ the city’s connection to the harbour.
‘‘At the moment, there is unencumbered movement, there are no right angles or straight lines that one has to follow,’’ Reid said.
‘‘In this proposal, you can only move in one direction and nowhere else.’’
Reid was also critical of proposed wheelchair access to the park’s upper level, estimating people would need to travel about 245 metres to get to where the garden’s tearooms would be, compared with about 55 metres to the same point now.
‘‘The current park is far more accessible across the park, and particularly to the upper level, than the proposal.’’
Reid said the current ramp was probably steeper than it should be for wheelchair users but that could be addressed by simple modifications, such as hand rails.
He was not critical of the garden design, but opposed where it would be placed at the park because it would impede the view towards it from Willeston St.
‘‘The character of the street would fundamentally change with the introduction of the Chinese garden within the ‘view shaft’.
‘‘You’d have a layering of buildings ... a wall behind a wall. It’s a view to the city, not a view to the park or harbour.’’
Wellington City Council lawyer Kierra Krumdieck suggested to Reid the view of the water was already blocked from Willeston St by the promenade wall near the park.
But Reid said the city’s harbour view encompassed more than just water, and included features of the space above it such as yacht masts.
The wall of the garden would close down the city’s connection to the harbour and that was ‘‘profoundly more concerning’’ than the sea wall at Frank Kitts Park, Reid said.
The court decision. has reserved its