Parnell's future Train Station
- a visionary development
Objections to KiwiRail's plans for a bus park
KiwiRail and Infratil, owners of the Link Bus, have embarked on a plan to utilise the Mainline Steam site, below Cheshire Street, in Parnell for a "bus park". Parnell Inc. and other Parnell stakeholders are adamantly opposed to and outraged by this plan.
This proposal flies in the face of significant community interest in this historic site. Our immediate concerns include:
• Parnell's back streets are in no way suited to significant volumes of large vehicles or heavy bus transfers in and out of this site
• No community input has been sought for this plan or visibility given to local residents
• The suggestion of traffic lights on Parnell Rise undermines Parnell's village atmosphere and will lead to significant traffic jams at peak times
• As a residential area large movements of buses creates a dangerous environment for children who live in the area
• As Auckland 's most historic suburb and one of Auckland 's major tourist hospitality areas, the mass movement of buses would have a major negative impact on the quality of life that the area offers
• This plan would significantly increase the noise levels of vehicles and increase pollution to residents and local hospitality businesses
• A bus park would destroy the effort to reintegrate Parnell with the Domain
• The proposed plan would destroy the potential for a world-leading architectural project centred about the wonderful Mainline Steam depot building and integrating rail transport with a destination location.
Our Vision
Together with representatives of the wider Parnell community, Parnell Inc. is lobbying for a visionary destination train station below Cheshire Street, beside the old depot building currently occupied by Mainline Steam.
While the site is presently run down and ‘out of sight', it is in a strategic location, with the ability to effectively link The Domain with historic Parnell and create an iconic destination or urban design hub focussing on green development and train transport, rather than bus storage or terminals.
The 2.2 hectare site, currently owned by KiwiRail, is located in the historic Waipapa Stream
valley, the industrial cradle of Auckland, between Parnell's town centre and the Domain.
In 2009, Nicholas Stevens and Gary Lawson, of Parnell's award-winning Stevens Lawson Architects partnership, developed an inspiring vision for a high-quality development of the site. (Click on the schematic above to see Stevens Lawson's plan as a larger graphic.)
Key to this vision is an exciting redevelopment of the large train depot building, which is undoubtedly one of very few now remaining in Auckland.
As a nucleus for development of the site, the depot could become a superb tourist drawcard. The multi-award-winning redevelopment of the CarriageWorks at Everleigh, Sydney by
Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects,provide a clear example and inspiration for the potential for the depot at Cheshire Street.
A ring of mixed-use commercial/residential developments about the periphery of the site could support re-development of the old depot. The vision also includes the addition of the historic former Newmarket Station, currently in storage awaiting a suitable site for relocation.
On October 14, 2009 we made this presentation (below) to the Auckland Regional Council's Transport & Urban Development Committee
