The view of the Urban Design Panel should be treated with scepticism. This panel does not include a trained conservation architect or indeed anyone with conservation expertise. This shortcoming has been pointed out to the City Council but nothing has been done to remedy the problem.
The approval of the Historic Places Trust also needs to be treated with caution. Because the New Zealand Historic Places Trust is so severely underfunded, it cannot afford to become involved in too many expensive legal proceedings. Hence, it has a strongly embedded bureaucratic predisposition towards compromise.
It is true that a presentation on the proposal was presented to the Civic Trust. What is not mentioned is that the Trust has written a letter to the University and the Arts Centre Trust Board outlining its concerns about the building and has organised a public meeting to discuss these problems.
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