Maybe Mayor Conor Hill writes an interesting piece on why heritage is a nonsense and could be making us sick.
The picture is of a pre-1930 house in Berhampore. It’s a dull box which I can almost guarantee is cold, damp and unhealthy inside. It would almost definitely tumble down in an earthquake. About the only thing it has going for it is being close to the city, an ideal spot for more dense housing. Unfortunately Wellington council determines this as a “house of special character” given it’s age and location in a “special character suburb”. If a group of people wanted to replace this lifeless square with a group of warm dry homes, they would have to get special costly consent. This is ludicrous.
I’ve spent 90% of my life in pre-1930’s character homes. One gave my sister asthma. One was responsible for some raging arguments over power bills as a student. One had no windows in my bedroom, and contributed to a worse than usual mid-winter Wellington mope. There are a tonne of measurable downsides to “character” zoning rules, and about the only upside is that if you are a homeowner, a character area may add about 5% to the value of your home.
Heritage is nonsense
Inside Wellington 