BEFORE THE ENVIRONMENT COURT AT AUCKLAND ENV-2017- UNDER the Resource Management Act 1991 IN THE MATTER BETWEEN of an appeal pursuant to section 120 of the Resource Management Act 1991 VIEW WEST LIMITED APPELLANT AND AUCKLAND COUNCIL RESPONDENT NOTICE OF APPEAL BY VIEW WEST LIMITED Dated: 29 September 2017 PO Box 3798, Auckland 1140 TELEPHONE +64 9 353 9700 FACSIMILE +64 9 353 9701 PARTNER RESPONSIBLE: BIANCA TREE Bianca.Tree@minterellison.co.nz
1 To the Registrar Environment Court Auckland 1. View West Limited (VWL) appeals the decision of Auckland Council to refuse resource consent to demolish the Sunday School Hall at 31 Esplanade Road, Mt Eden (Hall) which is listed as a Category B Historic Heritage Place in the Auckland Unitary Plan Operative in part (AUP OP) (decision). 2. VWL is the applicant for resource consent. 3. VWL received notice of the decision on 18 September 2017. 4. VWL is not a trade competitor for the purposes of section 308D of the Background Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). 5. VWL has a conditional agreement to purchase the site at 31 Esplanade Road, Mt Eden (site). The site is the location of the St James Church and Hall. The St James Church and Hall are jointly listed as a Category B Historic Heritage Place in the AUP OP. 6. The Hall is subject to a dangerous building notice issued by Auckland Council in April 2012. The Hall is fenced off from the public and has not been in use for the past 5 years. 7. VWL was granted in March 2016 a resource consent to restore and repurpose the St James Church into four residential apartments. The St James Church is also in a poor state, and requires significant strengthening and restoration work under this consent to enable its reuse. 8. VWL is seeking consent to demolish the Hall as it will not proceed with the purchase of the site and assume the liability of the Hall as a dangerous building, or be able to undertake the investment to restore the St James Church without certainty that the Hall can be demolished.
2 Reasons for the appeal 9. The reasons for the appeal are given below. 10. Generally, the decision made: (a) (b) (c) (d) Is inconsistent with the objectives, policies and provisions of the relevant planning instruments, including the AUP OP; Fails to achieve the purpose and principles of the RMA, including the sustainable management of physical resources of enabling the restoration of the St James Church, ensuring the safety of the public and adjoining property owners, and providing for residential development; Did not sufficiently take into account how the proposal can provide for the protection of the St James Church as a matter of national importance; and Does not support good resource management practice. 11. In addition to the above, VWL seeks relief for the following reasons: (a) (b) (c) (d) The demolition of the Hall is consistent with the objectives and policies of the Historic Heritage Overlay chapter of the AUP OP, and in particular Policies 13 and 14 are given effect to taking into account the joint heritage listing and the restoration of the St James Church; The Hall has been subject to a dangerous building notice and has continued to fall into disrepair over the last 5 years. No party has come forward to propose or fund a viable restoration and reuse for the Hall; Alternatives to demolition are not economically viable. The restoration works for the St James Church require an economic return from the Hall site. It is a significant economic burden to have two historic heritage buildings on a single site; The St James Church has more significant historic heritage values than the Hall;
3 (e) (f) (g) (h) Without resource consent to demolish the Hall, VWL is not be able to proceed with the purchase of the site and restoration and repurposing of the St James Church; The historic heritage values of the St James Church will not be adversely affected by the demolition of the Hall, while the historic heritage values of the site will be able to be protected for the benefit of future generations by the restoration and reuse of the St James Church; The adverse effects of demolishing the Hall are offset by the positive effects that will arise, including the restoration and protection of the St James Church, the provision of residential accommodation, and the removal of a public safety hazard; and Due to the location of the Hall, and prominence of the St James Church, removal of the Hall would not significantly impact the streetscape character of Esplanade Road / View Road. Relief sought 12. VWL seeks the following relief: (a) (b) Resource consent to demolish the Hall is granted; and Costs. Documents attached to this notice 13. Attached to this notice of appeal are: (a) (b) A copy of VWL s application for resource consent; A copy of the decision; (c) A copy of the dangerous building notice issued 20 April 2012; (d) A copy of the resource consent for the restoration and reuse of the St James Church dated 15 March 2016; and
4 (e) A list of names and addresses of persons to be served with a copy of this notice. DATED this 29th day of September 2017 View West Limited by its solicitors and duly authorised agents MinterEllisonRuddWatts Bianca Tree Address for service of View West Limited: c/- MinterEllisonRuddWatts PO Box 3798 AUCKLAND 1140 Attn: Bianca Tree / Alice Gilbert Telephone No: (09) 353 9794 / (09) 353 9795 Fax No: (09) 353 9701 Email: bianca.tree@minterellison.co.nz alice.gilbert@minterellison.co.nz
5 Advice to recipients of copy of notice of appeal How to become party to proceedings You may be a party to the appeal if you made a submission or a further submission on the matter of this appeal. To become a party to the appeal, you must (a) (b) within 15 working days after the period for lodging a notice of appeal ends, you lodge a notice of your wish to be a party to the proceedings (in form 33) with the Environment Court and serve copies of your notice on the relevant local authority and the appellant; and within 20 working days after the period for lodging a notice of appeal ends, you serve copies of your notice on all other parties. Your right to be a party to the proceedings in the court may be limited by the trade competition provisions in section 274(1) and Part 11A of the Resource Management Act 1991. You may apply to the Environment Court under section 281 of the Resource Management Act 1991 for a waiver of the above timing requirements (see form 38). How to obtain copies of documents relating to appeal The copy of this notice served on you does not attach a copy of the relevant documents listed in 13(a) to (d) above. These documents may be obtained, on request, from the appellant. Advice If you have any questions about this notice, contact the Environment Court in Auckland, Wellington, or Christchurch.
Annexure A Copy of View West Limited s application
Annexure B Copy of the decision
Annexure C A copy of the dangerous building notice issued 20 April 2012
Annexure D A copy of the resource consent for the restoration and reuse of the St James Church dated 15 March 2016
Annexure E A list of the names and addresses of persons to be served with a copy of this notice Name Address Email Auckland Council Private Bag 92300 Auckland 1142 benjamin.cunningham@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz Jeffrey Fu 2/15 View Road puketea@gmail.com Meng Gong Christopher R Coombe & Nicola F Allen- Coombe Alan R List & Caroline J List 230A Glenvar Road 56 Esplanade Road 4 Sherbourne Road menggongnz@gmail.com coombefamily@orcon.net.nz candar@orcon.net.nz Haydn Sawyer PO Box 35038 haydn@hsarchitects.co.nz Yi Lu 18 View Road yixlux10@gmail.com Civic Trust Auckland Audrey van Ryn Eric Zylstra Paul South PO Box 74049 2 Sherbourne Road 3/25 Brentwood Avenue cta@civictrustauckland.org.nz ericford2@live.com paul.south@rocketmail.com Rob Enright & Tara Hotop 27 Grange Road rob@publiclaw9.com Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Rebecca Vertongen PO Box 105291 rvertongen@heritage.org.nz