5 August 2005

Moratorium on Jean Batten Building demolition remains in place, says Mayor

Auckland City has received a decision from the Environment Court on the general issue relating to duration of resource consents. This subsequently affects the Jean Batten State Building demolition consent.

The ruling is that the resource consent to demolish the building is valid. The court decision confirms that resource consents issued prior to 2003 will remain valid for five years, and receive the benefit of the amendment to the Resource Management Act, which changed the expiry period for resource consents from two years to five years.

The court decision is independent of a moratorium agreement between Auckland City and the Bank of New Zealand to defer any resource consent applications, demolition application or heritage orders. The moratorium was agreed before any clarification from the Environment Court was sought and both parties were expecting this outcome.

An urban design framework has been developed for the site and the Urban Design Panel will consider any plans for the site.

Options under consideration range from:

- retaining the Jean Batten State Building and construction of a new building on the 80 Queen Street site, to
- a fully integrated development on the entire site.

Auckland City’s interest is to investigate all options and decide the best outcome for the city.

ENDS

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