MEDIA RELEASE
19 September 2005

Sounding out potential works to Civic car park

Auckland City will be carrying out construction noise testing on Aotea Square this Saturday, 24 September.

A large concrete breaker will be brought onto the grassed area of Aotea Square and will operate at 5-minute intervals between 7.30am and 11.30am. Noise readings will be taken at 50 different points around the square and adjacent buildings, including SkyCity Metro and the Auckland Town Hall.

The testing is related to the proposed redevelopment of the Civic underground car park and Aotea Square. Various development options are being investigated for the area, which is still at the early conceptual stage, with construction unlikely to start before July 2007.

The noise testing is a part of work underway to understand potential effects any development may have on surrounding businesses and residents.

“The level of disruption and construction noise is just one aspect we must consider as part of assessing any potential development works,” says Martin Chandler of Auckland City’s property management team.

“These tests will help identify any areas unacceptably effected by the construction noise. Once we know this we can then put measures in place to reduce these effects when works are carried out in the future,” says Mr Chandler.

Saturday’s Aotea market will remain open for business. Disruption will be kept to a minimum but it is likely those on or near the square will notice a low level of noise.

Auckland City recently replaced some temporary steel props with steel beams to free up 26 more parking spaces in the car park. Monitoring of the damage to the Civic underground car park roof is ongoing, however, no further structural damage has been identified since that found in May.

Preferred options for the proposed redevelopment of the car park and square are likely to be ready for consideration by the council later this year.

ENDS

© Scoop Media