An Auckland man convicted on tax charges last year has won permission to build three boat sheds alongside the picture-postcard ones already lining the water’s edge in Ōrākei.  

David Gower was granted resource consent last month to build three sheds matching the existing 17 heritage-protected buildings along the curved edge of Ngāpipi Rd against the wishes of the Ōrākei Local Board, which wanted the project publicly notified.  

The heritage-protected boat sheds, built in the early 1930s, attracted international attention last year when a restored example fetched $2,050,000. The previous record was $1.35 million. 

There are 17 heritage-protected boat sheds along Ngāpipi Rd, Ōrākei. Photo / Supplied 

Zoning rules from Auckland Council mean owners cannot live in the sheds or use them for commercial purposes, in part because the simple structures in Hobson Bay are not allowed toilets and other plumbing. 

The rules limit their use to boat storage and maintenance of vessels. 

Gower told the Herald he planned to use the sheds to store boats and had no plans to sell them. 

Last year, as a director of an Auckland fire system installation company, Gower was convicted on one charge of aiding and abetting offending under the Tax Administration Act . 

He pleaded guilty at the Auckland District Court to a representative charge spanning 49 tax periods and was sentenced to two years and three months’ jail. 

Gower appealed the sentence, which was set aside by the Court of Appeal and substituted with four months’ community detention. 

Gower said he did everything asked of him by the council to obtain resource consent to build the sheds and planned to start work immediately. 

Ōrākei Local Board member Troy Churton believes the application to build new boat sheds should have been publicly notified. 

Ōrākei Local Board member Troy Churton said the board believed the historical, visual, and coastal changes to the environment were more than minor. The application should have been notified to allow interested groups, such as the Tamaki Drive Protection Society, and the public to have a say, he said. 

The new boat sheds will be built at the end of the existing sheds closest to Tamaki Drive. 

“It concerns me greatly that the existing heritage status of the existing sheds derives protection status by not having more boat sheds and modern developments either side of it on that coastal fringe,” Churton said in an email to council staff. 

On April 11, the duty commissioner Cherie Lane approved the application, saying it passed the tests for non-complying activities and would have less than minor effects on the environment. 

The new boat sheds will be built between the end of the heritage-protected sheds and Tamaki Drive. Photo / Dean Purcell. 

“In terms of heritage character, the proposed boat sheds are considered appropriate as the new boat sheds will complement the form and fabric associated with the physical attributes and values of the place. 

“In terms of potential impacts to the landscape, natural character and visual effects, the proposed boat sheds are consistent with the grouping of 17 similar boat sheds at the site in terms of scale, proportion and materiality,” Lane said. 

Ōrākei Local Board member Penny Tucker said Gower had done nothing wrong but she was disappointed the resource consent was not notified. 

“If you don’t publicly notify something then you don’t get to the bottom of what might concern local people,” said Tucker. 

“If the council wants local boards to have more autonomy and be more responsible for the areas they have jurisdiction over then the systems need to reflect the ability of boards to influence outcomes. 

“If you can’t be part of a dialogue to change, modify, or notify things, then what’s the point?” 

This article was originally published by the NZ Herald here.