Keeping watch on our historic places

The agency has come under fire for opposing the design of proposed changes to Wellington’s railway station. But is it just doing its job? Damian George reports.

Heritage New Zealand has made headlines recently for its opposition to the design of proposed changes at Wellington Railway Station.

The Crown agency opposed the design of a new wheelchair ramp because it believed it would be too difficult to use, and is opposing the design of ‘‘bold and intrusive’’ validator machines needed for a Snapper card trial on the Johnsonville line.

So, what exactly is Heritage New Zealand, what is its role, and what are its powers?

What is Heritage New Zealand?

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, formerly the Historic Places Trust, is an autonomous Crown agency responsible for assessing, listing and protecting New Zealand’s historic buildings and places.

It is guided by the Heritage New Zealand Pohere Taonga Act 2014, which replaced the Historic Places Trust Act 1993.

The agency employs 140 fulltime staff and 60 casual staff, and oversees about 6400 historic buildings and places nationwide, according to chief executive Andrew Coleman.

These include 1000 Category 1 places, 5000 Category 2 places, and 400 sites of significance to Ma¯ ori, Coleman said.

Significant Ma¯ ori sites include wa¯ hi tu¯ puna (places of ancestral significance), wa¯ hi tapu¯ (places of spiritual or religious significance), and wa¯ hi tapu¯ areas (areas that contain one or more wa¯ hi tapu¯ ).

Places of Ma¯ ori significance are overseen by the agency’s Ma¯ ori Heritage Council, chaired by public servant Sir John Clarke, while all other places are managed by the agency’s governance board, chaired by Marian Hobbs, the former Labour Party MP for Wellington Central.

According to the agency’s website, places are listed as Category 1 if they are deemed to have special or outstanding historical or cultural significance, while Category 2 places have a lesser significance.

The agency’s national office is located in one of the 45 heritage sites it owns, the Category 1 listed Antrim House on Wellington’s Boulcott St. The building is

the former home of Hannahs footwear founder Robert Hannah, and was later a private hotel and public service hostel.

How does a building or place become heritage-listed?

Coleman said anyone can nominate a building or place for a heritage listing, with nominations assessed by the agency. A range of criteria is applied, firstly to determine whether places warrant heritage status, and secondly, to determine whether they are Category 1 or 2.

The first set of criteria includes things like aesthetic, archaeological, cultural, historic, or social significance, among others, the agency’s website says.

The second set includes things like the place’s importance to New Zealand’s history; public esteem for the place; technical accomplishments; symbolic or commemorative value; and the importance of identifying it.

Certain places, several hundred in total, are also controlled by a heritage ‘‘covenant’’, which is agreed to by Heritage New Zealand and the land or building owner.

These covenants permanently protect the site, and are entered into a local council’s district plan.

Changes can still be made, but only with consent from the local authority and agreement from Heritage New Zealand.

Wellington Railway Station is regulated by a covenant.

What is the agency’s core role?

According to the Act, the agency is responsible for assessing, listing, protecting and conserving historic places; advocating for their protection and conservation; and fostering public interest in them, among other things.

It is also required to protect surrounding land that could affect a listed place’s heritage value, and provide heritage advice in the event of a local or national emergency.

Coleman said heritage protection concerns for modifications to an historic place can extend to practicality as well as aesthetics, because of the impact on the place as a whole.

This happened recently when the agency opposed the design of a new wheelchair ramp at Wellington Railway Station, a Category 1 heritage-listed building, over concerns the ramp would be too difficult to use. The matter has since been resolved.

The agency is also opposing the design of new card validator machines needed for a Snapper card trial on the Johnsonville line.

What powers does it have?

As well as advocating for the protection of historic places, Heritage New Zealand can also acquire and restore them itself, the Act says.

For places it owns, it can make these places publicly accessible, charge fees for admission, and lease or let them.

The agency also has enforcement powers over historic places. It can fine people up to $300,000 for destruction, and up to $120,000 for unauthorised modifications, the Act says.