Coastal walkway shut in council spat
Heritage listing dispute blocks popular Auckland coastal walk which passed through private land
Part of an “iconic” Auckland coastal walk has been closed to the public because of a heritage battle over a small seaside cottage.
That’s despite a North Shore community group this week presenting Auckland councillors a petition with
7000 signatures urging them to help keep it open.
The Firth family say they’re fencing off part of the 2.5km Takapuna to Milford coastal walkway that passes through their private Takapuna land, near Black Rock.
Former owner Paul Firth opened his land to walkers free of charge in
2011 after a public bridge washed away in front of his property.
The Firth family say they want to now grant a slice of their land to Auckland Council to be permanently used as part of the walkway, on condition the council removes a 2013 heritage listing placed over the property and grants them rates relief.
Lawyer Alex Witten-Hannah — acting on the family’s behalf — said he would have expected the council to jump at the opportunity to get “iconic” land cheap for future generations.
Instead, he said there’s been no movement from the council on the issue for more than a year, calling the delays “bureaucratic nonsense” and inertia.
The delays have helped to almost freeze the property in time — a tiny, rustic cottage surrounded by some of Auckland’s most desirable waterfront homes, including a four-storey mansion with a $13 million CV next door.
It’s also thrown doubt over whether this section of walkway, past the Firths’ property, will be lost to the public for good.
Takapuna Residents’ Associations Chairman Steven Salt this week presented a petition to councillors asking local government to simply “get on and do something” about it.
He said the council has had 12 years to solve the issue since the public bridge washed away and has failed to do so.
The walk was possibly Auckland’s most popular, with its narrow pathways passing beaches and stunning homes with views over Rangitoto Island, Salt said. In summer, especially, it teems with Aucklanders and tourists.
Those signing the petition wrote comments, such as: “terrible to lose”, “a huge loss to the community”, “too valuable and special to close”, “these coastal walkways are Auckland treasures for everyone to enjoy”, and “historic and of great value”.
The Firth cottage sits at a particularly popular spot, close to the 1920s-built Merksworth Castle and Thorne and Milford Beaches.
With the Firths fencing off their land, walkers now need to detour away from the coast and on to public roads before rejoining the path about a block further down.
Salt said he wouldn’t comment on the terms of negotiations between the council and a private landholder.
However, he believed the council should be able to move faster with the negotiations, given it had plenty of experience negotiating with landholders for things like maintaining roads and other infrastructure.
Witten-Hannah said the relatives who had inherited the property wanted to arrange a solution that benefits everyone.
The family had asked the council to waive about $78,000 in unpaid rates that accrued under former owner Paul Firth and to remove a heritage listing placed on the property.
In exchange, they would give a waterfront slice of their land to the council to be used as part of the walkway, Witten-Hannah said.
The family also believed the heritage listing was “unfairly” placed on the property because it was done in 2013 without consulting the family, Witten-Hannah said.
The heritage listing greatly reduces the property’s potential sale price, given the council has valued the cottage at just $50,000 while its prime waterfront land has a $6.8m CV.
Witten-Hannah said the heritage listing also noted that the historic value was more because of the notable people who have lived at the property, rather than the value of the cottage itself.
He said the family were being financially penalised simply because they were the last among the waterfront properties to sell up and build new mansions.
Regarding the unpaid rates, Witten-Hannah said former owner Firth generously opened his land to the public and paid for the maintenance of the path through it for a decade. However, he ran short of money and accrued the unpaid rates charges, Witten-Hannah said.
The young families inheriting the property are also not rich, but believe a fair outcome would be to grant a slice of their land to the council for public use, he said.
In an email response to Witten-Hannah seen by the Weekend Herald, council’s Parks and Community Facilities staff member Anthony Lewis said he understood it had been expected the local government would make a decision about the walkway in October last year.
“However, that timeline did not account for the local body elections and subsequent delay in forming a new council committee structure,” Lewis wrote to Witten-Hannah.
Taryn Crewe, general manager for Parks and Community Facilities at the council, told the Weekend Herald her department was “operating in good faith”.
She said her team wanted to “find a solution that works for the property owner as well as the wider community, and is mindful of the legislative requirements it has to follow”.