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Victoria Road
Auckland, Auckland, 0624
New Zealand
Devonport Heritage 2017, an incorporated society formed in 2017, promotes heritage and sustainable development in Devonport.
On Monday 17 August we have been granted speaking rights at a Tupuna Maunga Authority (TMA) meeting to express our concerns for the terrible impacts Peninsula Capital’s development will have on Takarunga/Mt Vic.
Read MoreAn Auckland heritage group has accused a developer of “hypocrisy”, saying it was “falling over itself” to engage until fast-track consenting became an option.
Read MoreA collection of photos taken Friday in calm conditions. These show the accurate depiction of the 27 metres which is the height of the proposed 8 storey buildings.
Read MoreThank you to everyone who came along and to all the people who helped get the balloon launch off the ground on Sunday. The five, bright red balloons flying at 27 metres were a great way of showing the impact of eight storeys on the Devonport village.
Read MoreGreat to see so many out in support of opposing the Fast Track application on Sunday. See the media coverage of the event here.
Read More
Come and See What 27 Metres Looks Like
There will be five 4 to 8 storey buildings in the heart of Devonport if the Fast Track proposal by Peninsula Capital is successful.
This Sunday morning we will launch five balloons to show what that height looks like.
Come and join us from 9.30am Sunday for the grand launch of five large helium balloons in lower Victoria Road and Wynyard Street.
Gather outside the library and bring your family and protest signs and show you care about Devonport.
It’s called STOP FAST TRACK FOR DEVONPORT
People will be handing out flyers and getting signatures on our petition from today and over the weekend.
Watch out for messages on the concrete wall at the top of Victoria Road!
On Saturday at 2pm we are meeting at Simon Watts’ electorate office at
1 Earnoch Ave Takapuna asking to speak to him about our concerns.
If he won’t see us, I will deliver a letter and maybe you can do the same and he will receive dozens of letters.
Make a sign, come and join us and spread the word!
Around 200 people gathered at Harmony Hall on Wednesday night to hear four architecture and planning experts talk about Peninsula Capital’s proposal to redevelop the Devonport village through Fast Track.
You can view the transcripts and presentations from the speakers here:
Full Presentation
Lindsay Mackie
Margot McRae - Bespoke Heights
Architect Linsday Mackie summed up the mood of the evening when he said: “Creating good cities and villages takes time and we should not destroy the very qualities that make this place so specifically unique and precious by grasping at the first eight storey cab off the rank.”
Landscape architect Richard Reid said: “Takarunga will become a background feature hidden behind this development. It will block local views, including that critical arrival point at the wharf. And it will diminish the setting for the maunga and the town centre. And those are critical factors in the unitary plan for upholding the values of the place. So the project will destroy the planned intimate relationship between the maunga and the town centre, and we will never get that back.”
Heritage architect Jackie Gillies spoke about the impact on historic buildings and Dave Serjeant described the Fast Track process.
Encourage your friends to join us on the website as a supporter if they want to keep up with developments.
We have formed an Action Group to consider further moves we can take to prevent the proposal being referred to Fast Track.
The first meeting is at Harmony Hall next Wednesday 22 July at 7pm.
Importantly this proposal for changing the face of Devonport would still be secret if the Devonport Flagstaff hadn’t published the leaked plans.
We are indebted as a community to the courageous journalism by Rob Drent and his team.
We urge you to donate to the Flagstaff to help keep this vital community newspaper going.
Peninsula Capital have applied to have their radical plans for the Devonport town centre approved by Fast Track.
This cuts out locals from having any input into the process.
It is outrageous that Devonport people will be robbed of having a say in a development which will effectively transform the centre of the village.
We support having apartments in Wynyard Street but not 6-8 storey buildings that will block out views to Takarunga and overwhelm the historic Victoria Road buildings.
It is misuse of the Fast Track system which is for significant regional or national projects like major housing projects and new infrastructure. This is a private developer wanting to build expensive apartments for the local market. They should go through the normal resource consent process like the rest of us.
What You Can Do
We need to stop the application being given the green light for the Fast Track process. Minister Chris Bishop will chose the applicants and this goes to cabinet for approval. You can write to the cabinet ministers and raise these points:
This is a local project that has no place being in Fast Track. It is a mis-use of the process.
It will fundamentally alter Devonport centre but gives no voice to local people.
It cuts out proper scrutiny of the proposal.
It is a non-complying application because of the extreme infringements of heights and historic building demolitions
You can also email the same points to the Fast Track committee at -
contact@fasttrack.govt.nz
You can also register your objection to the Fast Track submission here
You Are Invited
We are holding a public meeting on Wednesday 15 July, 7pm at Harmony Hall, Wynyard Street.
We are inviting the Peninsula Capital directors and their architects as well as planning and heritage experts to discuss the proposals. Local politicians and Simon Watts our local MP will also be invited.
Do come along to hear about the latest on this major development in Devonport.
Cabinet emails:
Christopher.Luxon@parliament.govt.nz
Nicola.Willis@parliament.govt.nz
Chris.Bishop@parliament.govt.nz
Simeon.Brown@parliament.govt.nz
Erica.Standford@parliament.govt.nz
Paul.Goldsmith@parliament.govt.nz
Simon.Watts@parliament.govt.nz
Louise.Upston@parliament.govt.n
Mark.Mitchell@parliament.govt.n
Todd.McClay@parliament.govt.nz
Tama.Potaka@parliament.govt.nz
Under Auckland Council’s latest PC 120 proposal some Devonport sites could be rezoned Mixed Housing Suburban
This allows for multiple dwellings or terrace apartments of up to 2 storeys per site.
Previously 256 Devonport sites would lose their Special Character Area protections but would still be zoned as Single House Zone.
This is a worse outcome than the original PC 120 that locals submitted on.
The Plan Change was back in the news this week as Auckland councillors voted to send two options for the plan change to local boards for their feedback.
Both Option A and B have the same outcome for Devonport resulting in 256 properties losing their Special Character in pockets on the edges of Devonport’s borders namely:
The back of the Masonic; along Vauxhall Rd by Mt Cambria; the Ariho / Empire / Abbotsford area; and Turnbull - Old Lake Rd.
The council had assessed these properties to not be of sufficient Special Character value.
We strongly contest that and have challenged the Council’s method of scoring individual houses.
We argue that Devonport is a clearly defined geographical area whose character depends on the whole being recognised as a coherent area. Dividing off pockets will erode the integrity and heritage value of Devonport.
June/July 2026: Local boards and iwi will give their feedback
July/August: Council Planning Committee will consider feedback and decide which option for PC 120 to approve.
August: Public submissions open (again) on the altered PC 120
September: The Independent Hearings panel hearings will begin.
June 2027: The Hearings Panel will make their decision and report to Auckland Council who will ratify the Plan Change.
(The Hearings Panel has already told Council that it will be very difficult to make the deadline imposed by the Government).
Pressure the Devonport/Takapuna Local Board to reject these proposals.
Call on the Board, Auckland Councillors and the Hearings Panel to extend the time period for the whole process as there is little chance of meeting the deadline.
Make a submission on the changes to the Independent Hearings Panel. Even people who did not make an earlier submission can make one.
Devonport Heritage will ask the Devonport/Takapuna Local Board for speaking rights so we can put our case on the proposals to PC 120.
You can come along and support us at the meeting on 23 June at 10am at the local board office in Takapuna
Or you can email your local board members and councillors.
This undemocratic process began 6 years ago when central government ordered local councils to zone for more housing intensification.
Through several iterations, changes and reversals this complicated and torturous process has divided communities and caused misunderstandings, anxiety and anger.
By the time it’s finished, it will have cost Auckland Council at least $20 million.
If ever there was a case for central Government staying out of local politics, this is it.
The proposed RMA will be the end of Devonport’s Special Character area protections!
You can still have your say!
The deadline for submissions is 4.30pm this Friday, 13 February.
Feel free to use the Devonport Heritage submission as a guide, available here: RMA Submission
Go to the link and make a submission - Every submission counts!
Complete your submission here
The Government has finally acknowledged that zoning for two million extra dwellings in Auckland needs to be watered down.
News broke last week in the attached articles in the NZ Herald and The Post.
This is a major victory for Aucklanders who opposed the plan change that would allow intensification throughout almost all suburbs.
However the Government has not said how it will change the plan which has already been notified.
Thousands of submissions have been received, commissioners appointed and a schedule set so the whole process is underway.
We look forward to hearing how the Government and Auckland Council can change the direction of the ship PC 120 that has already sailed.
Read the full article here: https://charactercoalition.org.nz/newsmedia
We invite you to an information evening on 12 November in Harmony Hall at 7.30 where we will explain the hearing process for the Proposed Plan Change 120, and give expert advice on how to fill out the submission form.
Read More257 houses in Devonport will lose their Special Character Area protections in the proposed Replacement Plan Change. This is 10 percent of the dwellings in the area
They will be replaced by the Single House Zone.
The houses are in eight different areas of Devonport.
Our call-to-action to stop the fast tracking of development in Central Devenport.
Read More