3 November 2004

One month remaining for public to nominate sites of heritage significance

Potential new heritage sites in Auckland are getting a close examination. Members of the public have until 1 December 2004 to nominate historic buildings, monuments, objects and places of special value for possible inclusion in the Isthmus section of Auckland City’s district plan.

Auckland City has allocated $100,000 this financial year to assess these possible additions to the city’s protected heritage.

“This is the public’s opportunity to ensure their favourite historic sites are preserved for the future,” says George Farrant, Auckland City’s heritage manager. “We are particularly keen to have nominations from the suburbs, where there may be undiscovered heritage gems that are not protected.”

Since September, Auckland City has been asking the public to assist in identifying historic buildings, objects or places to be considered for heritage assessment.

“We’ve been inundated by nominations and are really pleased with the enthusiasm Aucklanders have shown in this recent drive,” says Mr Farrant. “Over 250 sites have been identified already and we hope to identify more.

“However, it is important for submitters to realise that any place can only be protected formally if it has enough relevant heritage attributes to pass a particular threshold in the scoring process.”

Sites put forward are assessed on a wide range of criteria such as cultural value, architecture, age, design and associations to determine a numeric valuation which decides whether they warrant scheduling to protect their beauty or architectural, scientific or historical worth.

Submitters can receive a copy of the criteria used by emailing Sarah Pocklington of the heritage division at sarah.pocklington@aucklandcity.govt.nz, by phone at (09) 307 7395 or fax at (09) 307 7316. Submitters can also write to the Heritage Division, City Planning, Auckland City, Private Bag 92516, Wellesley Street, Auckland 1030.

Mr Farrant emphasises that it is important to provide as much factual information against the assessment criteria as possible. “Without any discoverable historic, aesthetic or technical facts, it is most unlikely that any place can be protected, in contrast to one which has an extensive set of pertinent information.

“While our in-house historian may be able to unearth new facts, we are limited by time and resources in how much time-consuming basic research we can do on so many nominations, so the more data the public can provide with a submission, the better the chances.”

For more information, contact Auckland City on (09) 379 2020 or visit www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/heritage

ENDS

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