MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Publication 25 March 2010
Save Our St Heliers Incorporated Society

Fate of Houses to Be Decided in Court Tomorrow

The fate of an entire street in the seaside village of St Heliers lies in the hands of the Environment Court and emotions in St Heliers are running high.

Demolition of the Turua Street properties was halted on Thursday last week, when an urgent injunction was granted.

Despite the injunction being before the court, Developer Mike Markham's demolition crew destroyed most of one of the Spanish Mission style houses.

Save our St Heliers case claims that misleading information was given to the Council and the Environment Court by the developers. Tomorrow they will be asking that a comprehensive heritage evaluation on all of the buildings in Turua Street be undertaken.

'A proper heritage assessment has never been done despite council and developer claims to the contrary' says Dorothy McHattie, spokesperson for SOS. Ms McHattie believes that such an assessment will prove that the buildings should have full heritage protection.

In addition to the three Spanish Mission houses, two colonial cottages dating to the 1890s are also due to be demolished. These formed part of the 'model seaside village' when St Heliers was first subdivided in the 1880s (see attached photo taken in 1983 before the cottages were modified)

Local residents and members of SOS are planning to gather in Turua Street to wait for the court's judgement tomorrow. The courts sits at 10am and a decision could be made as early as midday.

ENDS

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