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Heritage under fire

Article

The Local - Mt Victoria

Author: Jane O’Loughlin

Created: Thu 26 Mar 2026, 07:49 pm

Category: Culture Heritage

Location: Mt Victoria

EDITORIAL

Just when you thought the District Plan was all sorted, the Wellington City Council starts a survey on heritage areas.

Heritage areas work because they are relatively intact areas.If one property owner decides to delist and allow their home to be knocked down and replaced with a multi-storey apartment block, the effect of the heritage area diminishes.In other words, it is not at all clear how this could even be workable - at least in a way that makes sense to those who value heritage.

How has it come to this?

For a long time, heritage was relatively widely accepted as adding value to our city, and deserving of protection. Anyone who has travelled knows that tourists are drawn to historic areas of a town, and indeed it is Mt Victoria’s quaint wooden houses on the hillside that are so often used in publicity material for Wellington.

But in recent years, views have shifted among some to seeing heritage as a burden and bringing unacceptable costs.

Although these costs have mainly related to large civic projects like the Town Hall refurbishment, the general vibe of impatience seems to have carried over to anything old.

Anti-character Minister Chris Bishop even went to the extent of passing bespoke legislation to enable the heritage-listed Gorden Wilson Flats to be torn down. That politician is now working on a new RMA that may make it easier to delist heritage buildings and sites.

It seems likely that if the powers are put in place, there are at least some councillors who will want to use them. And there will be some property owners who find heritage restrictions frustrating and may welcome the opportunity to free themselves to do what they want with their property.Their personal freedom will come at the expense of the collective; heritage belongs to us all, helps tell our stories and give context to our community. Allowing further change to Mt Victoria’s intact heritage areas will signal the beginning of the end of the suburb’s distinct character.

Jane O’Loughlin

Editor, The Local – Mt Victoria

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NEWS BRIEFS – May

Caretaker’s cottage to go

The caretaker’s cottage at Victoria Bowling Club will soon be removed.

A condition of the club’s lease with Council, approved in 2022 was that the club-owned building should be removed at the club’s cost.

The Wellington City Council said that once removed, the area will be reinstated as green open space within the club’s leased area on the Town Belt.

The Mt Victoria Residents’ Association had asked the council whether the building could be reused for public toilets.

However, the council said after looking into it, that due to the building’s location, the cost to retrofit it, and safety considerations, it was not considered a suitable option.

No thump from the bumpless hump

Alterations were made to a pedestrian crossing outside Clyde Quay School after noise concerns were raised by nearby residents.

The raised crossing had been installed last year to encourage drivers to slow down, but in recent months further work was carried out to make the hump less pronounced, by lengthening the approach to the raised section on both sides.

A parent of a student at Clyde Quay School who did not want to be named said he thought the original design was better in terms of safety: "If it's not as steep cars will continue to go fast."

A spokesperson for Wellington City Council said the work was “in response to an enquiry from a local building corp concerned with some noise associated with the gradient of the ramp.”

“Footpath and road maintenance in the area coincided with this work to ensure efficient use of traffic management while limiting impact on corridor users.”

Walk this way

An example of a ‘hotspot’ where cyclists and walkers can collide.

An example of a ‘hotspot’ where cyclists and walkers can collide.

Three sections of track on Matairangi-Mt Victoria may be designated ‘walking only’ following a review of safety on the maunga.

The Wellington City Council set up a process to look at establishing walking only tracks in 2022 following concerns about clashes between walkers and cyclists, and safety issues with downhill mountain bikers cutting across tracks.

As a result of discussions and analysis council staff identified 15 ‘hotspots’ and made recommendations for each, ranging from closing the track, to changing the designation or making other safety improvements such as better signage.

The 15 safety improvements put forward include three changes to make sections of tracks ‘walk only’, one to designate a section ‘uphill biking only’ and one to close an unnamed track.

Council staff have shared the recommendations with their working groups and are now aiming to deliver a Council Committee paper in June 2026, which will have an opportunity for oral submissions.

Collision on Austin Street

Wet weather led to a collision on Austin Street in April.

According to a police officer at the scene, a car heading up Queen Street hit a car on Austin St. The car that was hit ended up swerving into a tree on Austin Street. No one was hurt.