Developer and foes go face to face

[muppet]

Developer and foes go face to face
5:00AM Monday January 21, 2008
By Bernard Orsman

Developer Tony Gapes and opponents lock horns today over plans to build 146 apartments on the water's edge at Orakei.

Mr Gapes will start a two-week public hearing for resource consent before many of the 500-plus opponents give evidence against what local councillor Aaron Bhatnagar has called "East Germany by the sea".

The proposed development on the Orakei headland has caused much anguish on the northern slopes of Remuera, where wealthy residents are worried about loss of views, traffic problems on Orakei Rd and further damage to the geology and history of the Orakei Basin.

Mr Gapes, no stranger to controversy with a number of unpopular developments to his name, has responded to the furore by reducing the number of apartments on a 1.1ha site at 228 Orakei Rd from 202 to 146.

Residents were furious when the Auckland City Council allowed Mr Gapes to build 42 apartments on 246 Orakei Rd without giving the public a say.

The Orakei Residents' Society, with more than 300 members, has accused council planners of bending over backwards to help Mr Gapes cover the headland around the Orakei railway station with small apartments.

The area could eventually have about 400 apartments and there are rumours the council is lining up a deal for Mr Gapes to build more apartments on the site of "Pinot" function venue at 231 Orakei Rd. City planning manager Penny Pirrit said the council had had no talks with Mr Gapes about the council-owned Pinot site. The future of the site remains a closely guarded secret.

Building medium density developments around transport hubs of the type proposed by Mr Gapes is consistent with the council's urban growth strategy, even though Orakei is not marked as a priority area.

The strategy has faced strong public opposition, largely because of the quality of the housing waved through by council planners. At a protest meeting a year ago, John Banks, now Auckland mayor, criticised Mr Gapes as having some of the worst developments in Auckland to his name.

These include the bulky Scene One, Scene Two and Scene Three apartment blocks in downtown Auckland and the Eden One and Eden Two townhouse developments in Mt Eden. Mr Gapes walked away from any responsibility for illegal balconies at Mt Eden by putting his development company into liquidation.

The first few days of the hearing are set down for Mr Gapes, who will call a number of expert witnesses, addressing everything from traffic and parking to the effects on the scheduled Orakei Basin and the dominance of the five apartment blocks.

Michele Perwick, the consultant planner hired by the council to review Mr Gapes' latest plans, said the cumulative effects were "no more than minor" and has recommended the development be granted resource consent, subject to conditions.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10487880

[muppet]

Developer's vision is frightening, says mayor
5:00AM Tuesday January 22, 2008
By Bernard Orsman

Auckland mayor John Banks has attacked a city developer and his plans for five apartment blocks on the water's edge at Orakei.

As resource consent hearings for the development started, Mr Banks took the unusual step of issuing a statement to the Herald criticising the proposal and developer Tony Gapes' company, the Redwood Group.

"The visual aspect is frightening, and the developer's assertion this will be a quality project is hard to believe, Mr Banks said.

"Artist impressions of these flash glass and concrete boxes ring hollow in the face of past buildings from Redwood Group."

He was referring to the bulky Scene One, Scene Two and Scene Three apartments blocks in downtown Auckland and the leaky Eden One and Eden Two townhouse blocks in Mt Eden.

At yesterday's hearing, development director Andrew Showler said the apartment blocks were an attractive and responsible proposal making good use of a currently unattractive industrial site.

The Redwood Group wanted to see a development "we can be proud to be associated with".

The proposed 146 apartments at 228 Orakei Rd have attracted a backlash from hundreds of local residents.

Mr Gapes did not speak at yesterday's hearing in defence of his plan.

He left that to others, including Mr Showler and his lawyer, Christian Whata, who said the development provided an excellent opportunity to use prime residential land close to the city.

The first day of the hearing was largely taken up with experts hired for Redwood Group praising the architectural aspects of the proposed apartments and their effect on the local and wider environment.

Award-winning architect David Mitchell, of Mitchell & Stout Architects, showed floor plans y which, he said, did not indicate a "slum".

Mr Mitchell said the form and appearance of the development was a significant improvement on the present ad hoc collection of buildings on the site.

He said the effects of the development on the environment would be minor.

Landscaping proposals, including a 20m wide public esplanade, would improve the natural setting of the buildings, particularly on the Hobson Bay and Orakei Rd frontages.

Mr Mitchell said the apartment blocks would be made of concrete with intrinsic precast patterned end walls.

Where walls were made of pre-finished aluminium panels, these would be coloured in rhythmic patterns and punctuated by small brighter projecting balconies.

The colours would change from block to block as a form of coding.

"I believe the colours and finishes will produce a pleasing visual impact, appropriate to the setting," he said.

But one of four planning commissioners hearing the resource consent application, Leigh McGregor, said she believed there was too much visual colour, textural concrete, reflective metal, vertical and horizontal planes going on.

Add residents' lamps and curtains and it would become "visual overload".

Mr Mitchell pointed out several other features to the design such as an underground carpark for residents' vehicles, access to all ground floor apartments being through private courtyards; and the addition of a cafe and small retail store.

Landscape architect and Boffa Miskell director Rachael de Lambert said the architectural quality of the apartments and comprehensive landscape work would create a quality urban environment and improve the coastal area.

"The existing coastal interface is neglected and of poor quality. It is treated very much as the backside of an industrial/commercial activity.

"The proposed development will provide a full esplanade reserve and has been designed to protect and enhance the remnant tuff feature and associated existing mature pohutukawa in the south-west corner of the site."

The hearing will focus today on traffic and parking issues.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10488046

[muppet]

Developer points finger at mayor
5:00AM Wednesday January 23, 2008
By Bernard Orsman

Developer Tony Gapes is hitting back at growing political criticism of his plans for 146 apartments at Orakei after the latest broadside blaming developer greed and bureaucratic ineptitude for blots on the landscape.

Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee yesterday said Auckland City Mayor John Banks' description of the proposed development as "frightening" was absolutely valid.

"The area does lend itself to apartments as part of a sensible urban redevelopment, but 146 apartments in five massive blocks in such a sensitive harbour edge locality is just over the top and will have a negative impact on the visual amenity and traffic flows," Mr Lee said.

He said the word "greed" was not mentioned in the Resource Management Act but developer greed and bureaucratic ineptitude were evident in the architectural disasters built across Auckland in recent years.

Mr Gapes, who finds himself a political target on top of an angry backlash from hundreds of local residents, yesterday said he was creating a world-class development on a special waterfront site just five minutes from downtown Auckland.

The development, he said, was nothing compared with Mr Banks' plans for the area during his previous term as mayor.

"If he had had his way there would be a massive, six-lane highway running through the site with hundreds of thousands of cars going through it every day," Mr Gapes said.

He was responding to Mr Banks, who took the unusual step of criticising the proposal and Mr Gapes' company, the Redwood Group, at the start of a resource consent hearing on Monday.

Mr Banks said the developer's assertions that the Orakei development would be a quality project were hard to believe.

"Artist impressions of these flash glass and concrete boxes ring hollow in the face of past buildings from Redwood Group."

Mr Banks was referring to the bulky Scene One, Scene Two and Scene Three apartment blocks in downtown Auckland and the leaky Eden One and Eden Two townhouse developments in Mt Eden.

Mr Gapes said Mr Banks had called Redwood "one of the good guys" when he opened the company-built Foodtown supermarket on Quay St and mentioned the nearby Scene apartments approved under his leadership.

Responding to the criticism, Mr Gapes said he had scaled back earlier plans for 202 apartments in nine blocks to 146 apartments in five blocks designed by award-winning architect David Mitchell, of Mitchell & Stout Architects. The development opened up views to the waterfront and provided a public coastal esplanade.

At the start of the second day of the resource consent hearing, Mr Gapes' lawyer Christian Whata said Mr Banks' statement was unprecedented and sought an assurance of independence from the three commissioners and councillor Toni Millar.

Chairman Les Simmons said Mr Banks' comments were "irrelevant as far as our considerations are concerned".

The hearing centred on traffic and parking issues yesterday with two experts hired by Redwood Group saying the proposed development would have little effect on traffic along Orakei Rd.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10488226

[Dean@Massiveaction]

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