Orams over-height boatsheds obscure the views from new apartments

[ex Elly 197]

Boatshed battle: Verdict on Wynyard Quarter apartment owners’ fight for views

Wynyard Quarter apartment owners have a decision in their case against marine business Orams over a new over-height, view-blocking boatshed.

Justice Graham Lang granted their application for a judicial review over non-notification of the Beaumont St boatshed’s consent.

But he ordered no relief for the Wynyard Quarter Residents Association, which took action against Orams Group and Auckland Council in a case thought to have cost them $100,000-plus.

The judge said that if the court was to set aside the resource consent now, it would obviously cause Orams major prejudice, given the building is fully operational.

It isn’t possible for the building to operate as intended unless it remains at 25m, so reducing it to 18m was therefore not a viable option.

Given the level of investment Orams had devoted to the block and the function that the building was now performing, Justice Lang said there was little or no prospect the notification process would result in the council requiring Orams to reduce the height of the sheds to a compliant level.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/boatshed-battle-verdict-on-wynyard-quarter-apartment-owners-fight-for-views/A6TFZRGJHZF4JMLTUBJMSST4EM/

 

[aardvarkash10 960]

major iniquity all around really.  Yeah, the marine industry was there first, but planning rules exist for a reason so if the council allowed apartments where its understandable that the view is a part of the value, it follows that the council should have notified the non-compliant building application by Orams.
No fault on Orams part, they are victims of the council's disregard for its own rules as well.

[SusanWilks 0]

I watched that building go up in a few weeks - pretty much every three days it went up another storey.   I cannot see how the 'investment' Orams made is relevant to what was built extremely quickly probably in anticipation of complaints. To not set aside the Resource Consent leaves the door open for this to happen again without risk, the only requirement being that a building costs something, goes up quickly and is used immediately.  It is not just the height, but the incredible ugliness, blankness and functional design of the building with little relationship to the surrounding environment or any other buildings nearby, including Orams'. (One possible solution could be to laser project the lost view from the far side of the building on to the other side - the walls are blank enough to act as a screen, might essentially disappear the building and 'give back' the lost view).