Will the sale of Queen Elizabeth Square be another planning fiasco for Auckland Council? The past year saw the controversial Ports of Auckland’s expansion plan lose at the High Court, with the council now undertaking a year-long future ports study.

More recently, Auckland Council has agreed to sell the publicly owned Queen Elizabeth Square in downtown Auckland to Precinct Properties for $27.2 million as part of a $550 million redevelopment of the Downtown Shopping Centre site. 

Both the Auckland Architecture Association (AAA) and Vernon Tava of the Waitemata Local Board have expressed concerns over the Private Plan Change 79 which aims to change Queen Elizabeth Square zoning controls from public space to land that can be developed commercially after it is sold. 

The sale of the square was approved by Auckland Council’s Development Committee by a 14 to 5 vote on 11 September 2014, after a report found the proceeds from selling the underused and poorly performing city space would allow the creation of new public spaces that better meet the needs of the area. Precinct Properties intends to build a 19-metre high building on the site.

However, councillor Vernon Tava declares that no alternatives for new public spaces have been firmly secured. Tava comments that ”the options for alternative public spaces have been narrowed down to the Ferry Basin steps and Admiralty Breastworks. Both are contingent on other things happening. The Ferry Basin needs Auckland Transport’s $48 million seawall work to be finished and that’s not happening until financial year 21/22 in the Long Term Plan. Admiralty is still Ports of Auckland land and there is no certainty that they are willing to release it. This will be a watching brief for the remainder of the term.”

Tava continues, “as of this week [20 July 15], in City Centre Integration’s draft budget, we are seeing $17 million of the $27.2 million sale proceeds spread across the financial years 17/18, 18/19 and 19/20 for ‘Queen Elizabeth Square Replacement Spaces’. The remainder is to be confirmed but is to be used for public spaces.”

On 16 July, the Auckland Architecture Association filed two submissions opposing Private Plan Change 79 proposed by Precinct Properties. This is the first public submission process on the proposed redevelopment of downtown Auckland. 

Bill McKay, spokesperson for AAA, commented, “we oppose Plan Change 79 because it only relates to Queen Elizabeth Square, despite the fact that the whole of downtown west is up for redevelopment. We oppose incremental approaches, and seek comprehensive public input into the planning for the whole downtown precinct. This will allow for the sort of integrated planning that successfully shaped other central Auckland precincts including Britomart, Viaduct Harbour and Wynyard Quarter.”

The lack of certainty that public space will be provided to make up for the loss of the Queen Elizabeth Square is another of the AAA’s main concerns that is addressed in the submission. Given the scarcity of available opportunities, it is vital that this concern be taken into account and looked at closely by the Council.

The AAA could support the scale of development of Queen Elizabeth Square envisaged by the Plan Change, provided that equivalent or better public space replaces it, and that downtown public streetscapes are protected from effects arising from the provision of public transport infrastructure in the area after the planned removal of the Lower Queen Street bus terminal.

However, McKay commented, “the present approach is reminiscent of Port of Auckland’s failed attempt to expand Bledisloe Wharf where public access to Captain Cook Wharf was offered. Here the possibility of a piece of road or wharf not remotely similar in character to Queen Elizabeth Square has been mentioned in exchange.”

Vernon Tava echoed the sentiments of the AAA, concluding, ”I agree with the assessment of the Auckland Architecture Association that the incremental approach of piecemeal planning is not ideal, is not consistent with the holistic planning approaches of the urban design success stories of Britomart and Wynyard Quarter, and that we should be seeing public consultation on a comprehensive plan for the downtown precinct.”