Media Release for Immediate Use

Monday 17 December 2007

Mt Cook Petition Presented to Council

Mt Cook Mobilised will present a petition signed by 1428 people to the Wellington City Council on Wednesday 19 December urging restraint in the Tasman/Rugby St supermarket development.

This petition was started in August 2007 when the intended demolition of the 93-year-old Boys & Girls Institute and other heritage buildings became known. Mt Cook Mobilised was formed to give the suburb a voice, and a public meeting on 21 August was attended by 250 people.

“We are concerned that the heritage building, the Boys & Girls Institute, may be demolished before the plans for the replacement development are approved. We have concerns about the scale of the supermarket development (which includes two blocks of apartments and a petrol station), its impact on traffic, and whether it will fit in with the character of Mt Cook,” spokesman Peter Cooke says.

“The BGI and YMCA was for us a community centre, which we are about to loose.”

The wording of the petition is below:

“We, the undersigned
1) oppose a large-scale supermarket development along Tasman Street as it is already congested at peak time;
2) support a small-scale, low-impact development, landscaped with trees and shrubs;
3) support keeping Boys’ Institute as an iconic heritage landmark, aesthetically and culturally in tune with other significant historical buildings in Mt Cook;
4) support upgrading the swimming facility Boys’ Institute houses as it is used by up to 2000 local children per week.”

ENDS

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