The Devonport Flagstaff Page 4
June 13 2014
Wynyard St at a planning crossroads
Zoning changes are proposed for Wynyard St, raising both fears and hopes among those working and living there. Maire Vieth looked at the background to the issue and talked to a cross section from one of Devonport’s most diverse streets. Currently zoned Business 9D, Wynyard St caters for light industry, warehousing and service industries, with exceptions to the rule. There are retail premises, espresso bars, a few apartments and offices, including that of the Flagstaff, and a physiotherapy practice. As part of Unitary Plan, Auckland Council now proposes to zone the street’s eastern side Town Centre, which caters for retail offices on the ground floor and residential activities above. Council spokesperson Sharne Parsons said:“The industrial activities have largely disappeared from this side of the street, so there is no point in retaining an industrial zone.” On the street’s western side council wants to retain the existing industrial character with a
The old-timer Mark Kininmonth describes his business as the “old man” of Wynyard St. Aladino Products has been at number 19 since 1965, when his great uncle Nunzie Arabito set up the shop. It is now located behind David Martin Motors. “I took over in 1992 but as a boy I used to work here in the school holidays. So I have been mucking around here for about 42 years,” says Kininmonth, originally a marine fitter and turner. “Most of my work comes through word of mouth,” he says. It includes fit-outs of local restaurants Bette’s and Manuka, refurbishing the guns at Mt Vic and North Head, work on Fort Takapuna and restoring solid bronze masks at Auckland Museum. He also makes gates, handrails, balustrades and chandeliers. “I used to do a bit of outwork for the Navy. Last year I built a 22-foot aluminium boat in here,“ he says. Kininmonth’s 91-year-old great aunt Mary Arabito still owns 19 Wynyard St. “I will be here until she dies. Then the building will be sold and hopefully Dave [Martin] will buy it,” says the father of two girls who lives in Bayswater. Kininmonth questions the idea of a Town Centre zone on Wynyard Street. “From what I gather, retail is struggling on the main street. So why extend it to over here if shops are already empty on Victoria Rd?” he asks. Increasing property rates are a concern to Kininmonth. “My rates went up from $3,000 to about $12,000 a few years ago after a council re-evaluation and it’s been crippling. Since then they have come down a bit to around $9,000. It was as if they valued the retail environment and just blanketed it over the rest,” he says. Kininmonth is melancholic about Devonport’s past. “It would be nice to have what we had 40 years ago, when we had shops for what we actually needed rather than just food, food, food, food,” he says.
Light Industry zone. “There are garages, a boatbuilder, chocolate manufacturer, panelbeater, etc. These activities sit more comfortably in an industrial zone than in a Town Centre zone,” Parsons says. The new Light Industry zone will have no effect on current businesses as they have “existing use rights,” Parsons says. The Devonport Business Association (DBA), somewhat controversially, made a council submission for all of Wynyard St to become Town Centre zone. This was based on fears that a Light Industry zone would be more constraining than Business 9D and won’t allow residential, office or retail activities in the future. Many Wynyard St light industrial businesses have since voiced oppostion to this DBA submission. The DBA has taken this on board and may modify its stance. The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board advocates retaining at least some of Wynyard St as Light Industrial, to support local businesses,
promote self-sufficiency on the peninsula, decrease traffic on Lake Road and retain local jobs. Devonport Heritage wants all of Wynyard Street zoned Light Industry for similar reasons. • This month, the AA Service Centre at 73 Lake Road (corner of Regent St) closed down. Customers were told rents had doubled and plans for an apartment building were afoot. Council planner Dave Saunders told the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board that light industry was under pressure on Barrys Point Road as well. Board member Grant Gillon said: “We don’t want to shut the door on light industry, whilst allowing for some mixed use, so streets won’t flip over and become another Fred Thomas Drive.” Fellow board member Dianne Hale said: “We have every argument to retain our uniqueness in Devonport because we are constrained by traffic and geographical isolation.”
Aladino’s old-man cave
Above: The oldest business on Wynyard St… Mark Kininmonth of Aladino Products, which dates back to 1965 Right: Aladino Products in Wynyard St circa 1960s