March 23, 2016
Maunga Authority bypassed on view shafts
The chair of the Tamaki Makaurau Tupuna Maunga Authority says Auckland Council staff should have consulted the joint iwi-council body before trying to block views of the volcanic cones.
The recommendation to scrap the decades-old height restriction on areas within what are known as view shafts was voted down by council yesterday.
Paul Majurey says the authority got a day’s notice it was coming up, and that’s not good enough.
"They apologised for it, they said it won't happen again, and that now with yesterday's vote not to go ahead with that proposal, and that's with many folk stressing the importance of these visual connections to the tupuna maunga, the status quo has prevailed, so that now gives us time with the council having taken a pause to work with them over what was driving their thinking," he says.
Mr Majurey says the Tupuna Maunga Authority believes there are ways to meet the council’s desire for more intensive building without sacrificing the views of the volcanoes that help define the city.
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