Source: Auckland Council
Waitematā Local Board has given landowner approval for an application to build a national Erebus Memorial in Parnell’s Dove-Myer Robinson Park.
At its meeting today (17 October), the board voted 4-3 in favour of the decision.
The proposed memorial, led by Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, acknowledges the impact the Mt Erebus crash had not only on the families involved, but the nation as a whole.
The crash is the worst civil aviation accident in New Zealand history and saw 257 people lose their lives when Air New Zealand flight TE901 crashed into Mt Erebus nearly 40 years ago.
Waitematā Local Board chair Richard Northey says while the board’s decision to give landowner approval wasn’t unanimous, it had carefully considered all the information available to it when making its decision.
This information included effects to park, visitor and visual amenity, all expert analysis and reports, as well as feedback from the general public, local community and Erebus families.
“During our consultation, we heard from some who told us the proposed memorial would have an adverse impact on their experience of the park, but we also heard from Erebus families and others who were passionate about it going ahead.
“We considered all of these views carefully and with an open mind. However by majority, the board felt the proposed memorial fits with the park in terms of aspect and curvature, adding to the attractions of the park and providing a place for solace and contemplation along with other memorials in the park,” he said.
Next steps
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage will be issued a landowner approval letter with conditions that will mitigate any detrimental effects on the park.
Background
- In November 2018, Waitematā Local Board supported the siting of the proposed memorial at Dove-Myer Robinson Park subject to, among other things, the local board granting landowner approval for the installation of the winning design
- The local board reviewed the shortlisted design options for the finalists of the national design competition in February 2019
- The Auckland Urban Design Panel independently reviewed the final designs at the same time and considered that the Te Paerangi Ataata – Sky Song memorial had significant merit
- On 17 September 2019, Waitematā Local Board heard from individual local residents and local community groups who sought the opportunity to have their say on the effects of the proposed memorial at Dove-Myer Robinson park
- In October 2019, the local board ran a public consultation to find out if building a National Erebus Memorial in Dove-Myer Robinson Park would impact people’s experience of visiting the park and affect how often they would visit. Read the consultation results
- In March 2020, an independent commissioner granted resource consent on a non-notified basis after an assessment of environmental effects found that the memorial in the location proposed would have a less than minor effect
- In September 2020, Heritage New Zealand granted archaeological authority to the Ministry for work to go ahead in the park.
You can find out more about this work on the Ministry’s website.
