The Auckland Heritage Festival runs from 30 September to 15 October 2017.  The theme is

From waterways to motorways: the heritage of transport and travel in Tāmaki Makaurau – read more here

Mapping the history and growth of the Remuera Shopping Centre

A presentation on the history of the Remuera shops, many of which go back 100 years, with photos past and present. The growth of the local shops followed the development of roading and public transport (trams, trains and buses) to Remuera, first with horse drawn transport in the late 19^th century and motor vehicles in the early 20^th century. Today the village atmosphere has survived but the unitary plan may change the Remuera shopping centre forever.

Friday 13th Oct - 6.30pm at the Remuera Library

The Auckland Heritage Festival runs from 30 September to 15 October 2017.  The theme is

From waterways to motorways: the heritage of transport and travel in Tāmaki Makaurau – read more here

Wheels, water and wings over Remuera: 

Come and hear the stories about the famous men and women of Remuera who were involved with flying from the beginning of flight in New Zealand - 

Jean Batten, the Walsh brothers and the air aces of WW1, plus the early days of the K buses, horse-drawn trams and trains, with Mohi the boatman.  

WHEN AND WHERE: Thursday 5th October - 6.30pm at the Remuera Library

Come and hear Herb Farrant, President of the New Zealand Military Historical Society, talk about the run up to the Battle for Passchendaele, New Zealand’s darkest day, and the proposed New Zealand Museum at Le Quesnoy, France on the Western Front. 

Herb presented to us in 2014 on the impact of the outbreak of WW1 on New Zealanders and their expectations, covering the main events (Samoa, Gallipoli, Western Front & Sinai & Palestine)and their Legacy today, and in 2016 on the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front. Both talks were very informative and very moving. 

The town of Le Quesnoy in France has a special bond with the New Zealanders who came from the "uttermost ends of the earth" to defend them.

On the 12th of October 1917, 846 young New Zealanders were killed in the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium, with many more to die over the coming days from the wounds received on this one day. By the end of the day the total number of casualties, the wounded, the dead and the missing was 2,740, including about 10 Remuera men who are buried nearby. 

When: Friday 8th September 2017 at 6.30pm 

Where: Remuera Library 

Light refreshments provided. 

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

The prize giving for the annual story writing competition took place at Remuera Library on 30 August 2017. Students from Years 7 and 8 (intermediate age) at Remuera schools have to write a piece in 500 words on any topic they like. Sue Jackson, Ruth Jackson and Clare Cudmore from Remuera Library gave great feedback from the judges on the stories and presented prizes on the night for the Year 7 and 8 stories. 

Sue Cooper is shown with winners Georgia Mullins and Mia Vanderkolk, plus Colin Davis and Carmel Claridge from the Orakei Local Board.

There are also two special prizes offered by Remuera Heritage for the best story about World War one and the Orakei Local Board for the best story featuring Remuera. 

Sue Cooper from Remuera Heritage presented the Remuera Heritage prize to Vasu Nair from St Kentigern’s School for his story “Muskets” in the Only in New Zealand category.

Remuera Heritage notes with sadness the passing away of Mary Dixon, of Dixon Antiques. 

Remuera Heritage was fortunate to have both Mary and David Dixon participate in a very successful Antiques Roadshow with us in 2013. Mary’s knowledge of antiques, decorative objects and interior decoration was very extensive – she and David ran Dixon’s Antiques at 488 Remuera Road from 1987 until David’s death in 2015. 

These windows came from England as a gift from Alfred Bell, glassmaker to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, who owed his illustrious career to Albin Martin, who had given him drawing and painting lessons as a boy in England and set him on his path.  In order to ensure that the church building and windows are properly preserved the parish vestry has employed heritage architects to oversee the work that needs to be done. 

 The refurbishment will cost a considerable amount.  In order to meet the expenses the church will be launching a public fundraising campaign, beginning with a Victorian afternoon tea before which a short history of the windows will be given.

Image from Timespanner

 This will take place on Sunday 6 August at 2:30pm at Christ Church, 169 Ladies Mile, Ellerslie.

 You and your members are warmly invited to attend. There is no charge for the event. We simply want to share with all those interested in heritage the chance to view our beautiful historic windows and to give them the opportunity to assist in the project, where possible. We do hope that you and some of your members will be able to join us.  It would be helpful if possible to know the numbers attending, though there is no formal need to do so.

 RSVP to Pamela Stone People’s Warden            Phone: 579.4238  or pamela.stone@xtra.co.nz

Remuera Heritage members visited Crown Lynn Pottery Te Toi Uku in New Lynn and were treated to an engaging hour with curator Finn McCahon-Jones about the history of the company and its products which formed a part of every New Zealander's life. There were many stories and tales about our ownership and use of Crown Lynn dinnerware, vases, children's ware and door furniture over the years. A great place to visit! 

Our next Remuera Heritage Event is a visit to Te Toi Uku, the Crown Lynn & Clayworks Museum in New Lynn on Wednesday 26th July. The start time is 11 am.  http://portageceramicstrust.org.nz/

The plan is to travel by train on the Western Line from the Newmarket Station to the New Lynn Station. The train we must catch leaves Newmarket at 10.29 arriving at the New Lynn Station at 10.51 am. There is a 6 minute walk to the museum. Alternatively there is car parking at the Lynn Mall Shopping Mall, which is an 8 minute walk to the museum.

Where: 8 Ambrico Place, New Lynn, Auckland 0640

When: 11am Wednesday 26^th July 2017

Cost: Finn the curator will talk to us and show us around - there is a $5 visitor fee.

 RSVP: It is a small area, so if you are planning to come, please let Annette Jackman know asap at va.j@xtra.co.nz or phone 523 3614. 

The RRA now has a Facebook page – get the latest news etc here:

https://www.facebook.com/remueraresidentsassociation/

The RRA now has a Facebook page – get the latest news etc here:

https://www.facebook.com/remueraresidentsassociation/

The eastern suburbs have seen significant removal of the single house zone to be replaced with the increased density of the Mixed House Suburban or Urban zones. This will lead to the development of individual properties being intensified to 3 stories, alongside single houses, destroying the collective value and amenity of the area which the community has strived to protect for future enjoyment. Urban amenity has to be collective – individual owners cannot do both high density and still expect to retain the existing character and amenity. 

The Independent Hearing Panel wrote “there was an insufficient basis to restrict the demolition of buildings based solely on their age. The argument that the unitary plan should, on an alleged precautionary basis, manage the demolition of buildings in areas that may have ‘unidentified significant historic heritage places or unidentified ‘special’ character areas’ was not supported by evidence of the likelihood that such values would be identified, or that the rate of demolition required such a restriction”. 

During the Unitary Plan process, Auckland Council said it was not resourced to carry out character area surveys to identify significant historic heritage places or unidentified ‘special’ character areas’ but would cooperate with community groups to do this. Remuera Heritage offered its help to the Heritage Dept. and through Councillor Cameron Brewer but we never heard back. Council staff had countered to the IHP that a plan change to add or extend character areas should be ready for notification in early 2017. RH gave evidence of the removal of character buildings from Remuera South, parts of Remuera north and Newmarket to no avail. 

As a result, The Panel has kept most of the currently notified special character overlay over Auckland, with one notable exception – it has been almost erased throughout all the eastern bays, including Remuera, Orakei, Kohimarama, Mission Bay and St Heliers. The pre-1944 demolition control overlay has been removed in its entirety and there is now no protection for any identified or non-identified character buildings in Auckland. The pre-1944 overlay was only an interim measure to allow for the identification of character housing, so now demolition is a permitted activity. 

AT RISK: The Remuera Library which is a listed and protected heritage building has now been zoned as being part of the town business centre and buildings either side have been upzoned to THAB (Terrace Houses and Apartment Buildings). This includes Cotter House, another listed heritage building (the 5th oldest house in Auckland) and the Hearing Association house at the top of St Vincent Avenue. This zoning change does not help the protection of these historic heritage places. It is impossible to understand why there is such a lack of consistency here in having Category A status for a brick public building such as a library and a historic heritage house when the underlying zoning anticipates high density. Houses such as Cotter House are now at significant risk of demolition and redevelopment. 

Gains in Remuera have been the inclusion of the Extent of Place around the Chapel of the Holy Child (formerly the stables) at Kings School to include The Towers, the 1855 Graham/ McCosh Clark house. The Remuera Railway Station has been upgraded from Category B to A: “Given its integrity, it’s now rarity, having an integral and original relationship with its signal box, and being the best of Auckland‘s historic suburban stations, it warrants elevation from a B to A in its heritage categorisation. Accordingly, the Panel supports the scheduling of the ‘Remuera Railway Station and Signal Box’ as Category A and adopts the extent of place and description proposed by Heritage New Zealand.” 

The volcanic viewshafts fared better than heritage. Most (though not all) proposed viewshafts have been retained; a few have been deleted, and there is a new category of locally significant viewshafts. One of the differences between regional and local is that if a proposed building would penetrate a regional viewshaft it is a non-complying activity, whereas for a local viewshaft it is a Restricted Discretionary activity. The Panel has provided the Council with maps which represent its recommendations. 

To view what these recommendations may mean for Remuera and your own property, click here and here.

The Auckland Heritage Festival runs from 30 September to 15 October 2017.  The theme is

From waterways to motorways: the heritage of transport and travel in Tāmaki Makaurau – read more here

Mapping the history and growth of the Remuera Shopping Centre

A presentation on the history of the Remuera shops, many of which go back 100 years, with photos past and present. The growth of the local shops followed the development of roading and public transport (trams, trains and buses) to Remuera, first with horse drawn transport in the late 19^th century and motor vehicles in the early 20^th century. Today the village atmosphere has survived but the unitary plan may change the Remuera shopping centre forever.

Friday 13th Oct - 6.30pm at the Remuera Library

The Auckland Heritage Festival runs from 30 September to 15 October 2017.  The theme is

From waterways to motorways: the heritage of transport and travel in Tāmaki Makaurau – read more here

Wheels, water and wings over Remuera: 

Come and hear the stories about the famous men and women of Remuera who were involved with flying from the beginning of flight in New Zealand - 

Jean Batten, the Walsh brothers and the air aces of WW1, plus the early days of the K buses, horse-drawn trams and trains, with Mohi the boatman.  

WHEN AND WHERE: Thursday 5th October - 6.30pm at the Remuera Library