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Heritage: A continual cosmic process P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N DY H A N S E N
As Te Whanganui a Tara shapes its urban future, heritage is a contested notion. Denis Clifford explains why the value of heritage is not in opposition to our future.
circularity, they are defined as land, including archaeological sites, buildings and structures, and inter-related groups of such places, that form part of the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand. Which brings us to urban Wellington now. There can be, I would suggest, no argument with the proposition that the Victorian and Edwardian homes of inner Wellington, be they mansions, double or single villas, terraces, – detached or joined, cottages, cribs, baches or whatever, collectively, and inter-relatedly, constitute historic places and areas. They are historic in the straightforward sense of originating in surviving from the past and reflecting values and circumstances that differ from those of the present. Consider, as a way of experiencing the city today, places where Wellington’s earlier architectural heritage is extensively evident. Try starting from the grandeur of Oriental Bay, walking up the Oriental Terrace steps to Moeller and Hawker Streets and St Gerard's, and on through sunny Mt Victoria, perhaps via Shannon Street, Pat Lawlor Close, Claremont Grove and Batham Drive to Queen and Elizabeth Streets. Or down Tasman Street, peering into the special Tainui and Ranfurly Terraces, through Upper Cuba Street to Te Aro. Walk slowly up the first 100 or so yards of Ohiro Road, noting number 45's close relationship with the footpath, then round into Maarama Crescent and back down the alleyway through the early cluster of cottages that sits above the north end of Brooklyn Road and then up Aro Street itself. From 32 to 44 the clusters of cottages and then villas typify the area. Tired? A short climb up Devon Street, just as far as the entrance to the turf at Wai-te-Ata Road, and then an almost flat traverse of Kelburn Park, and
Denis is a retired Court of Appeal judge. He is a life-long Wellingtonian, and these days a keen reader and walker with interests in history, the arts and gardening.
H
eritage, what it means and what its value (if any) is, are fiercely contested notions, nowhere more so than in Te Whanganui a Tara in the third decade of the 21st century as we try to shape our urban future. Legislative recognition of heritage, and interpretations of the substantive content of these notions, are to be found in variations of the provisions of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014. The legislation continued the eponymous entity, and the role of the Māori Heritage Council and its kaitiaki; it is charged with promoting the "identification, protection, preservation and conservation of the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand". There is no definition in the Act of what constitutes the "historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand". The role of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is specified by reference to the defined terms historic places, historic areas, wahi tapu and wahi tupuna. And its first function is to itself identify, record, investigate, assess, list, protect and conserve all such places, and to support others with legal or equitable interests in those places to do likewise. So, historic places and historic areas as defined in the legislation are to be seen as embodying the notion of heritage. With quite a degree of
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