Comment on Turua St cottages

Richard Goldie, Director, Peddle Thorp Architects

“There is a lot of confusion around heritage and character. An easy description of character might simply be ‘particular things we love’, but often heritage and character overlap. The Council has robust processes in place that assess heritage using internationally recognised methods and these have been thoroughly tested in the Environment Court.

Included in our labyrinthine District Plan (available at the St Heliers public library) is a schedule of heritage items including buildings. The Turua Street cottages are not on the schedule.

Sometimes this heritage scheduling appears to be at odds with what the public thinks and the Queens Wharf sheds are a good example. Character on the other hand is an even more slippery thing, not easily classified, hence not easily protected.

However we are learning that if you look long and hard enough, there is heritage in everything everywhere – the Queens Wharf example again. Kevin Lynch, the highly respected Professor of Planning at MIT, one of America’s foremost research institutes, wrote ‘Everything, every event, every person is ‘historic’. (but)To attempt to preserve all of the past would be life denying’.

Ease of understanding of our District Plan and its processes is questionable. But the critical information it contains is readily available in the St Heliers library.”

ENDS

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