126) Edges are more important than what is contained within. Edges are those transitions which contrast changes of character. Containment of Kohukohu intensifies the character and liveabilty of the township.
127) Setting limits to urbanity was once a natural process. Your were either a town person, perhaps a craftsman, an artisan, a baker or a shopkeeper, or you were a country person, perhaps a farmer or a horticulturist. Degradation of the built environment has brought about a change. Most people find that it is no longer delightful to live in towns. Those who feel they do not belong in towns have no commitment to improving the environmental quality of towns.A downward spiral is established, Kohukohu is at a critical point of transition. It is still delightful to walk down the road for breakfast or a coffee at the Waterline, but the roar and danger of the logging trucks, or the lack of interest of tourists going somewhere else with their car windows firmly up could easily destroy the delight of the town. Above all else the Heritage Precinct needs to be a place where people want to be, just because it is so enriching and fulfilling.
128) Entry and exit are critical in setting limits to urbanity. For Kohukohu entry and exit are already defined by landscape, just as effectively as a mediaeval town might have been defined by the town wall.
129) The proposed “eco-development” above the ferry landing indicates what should not be done. People living there would be too far from the Heritage Precinct to be able to walk into town. They would need to drive, bringing the noise and fumes of their cars with them. They would dilute rather than intensify the urban experience making the Heritage Precinct less enjoyable for themselves as well as everyone else..The new residents do not belong in Kohukohu, but they do not belong anywhere else either.
130) It is the intensity of urban life within the Kohukohu Heritage Precinct which makes relationships possible. Here is here and there is there. The Precinct is limited and through achieving that it is without limit.
131) People can only be understood in relationship to others. It is the same with townships. Key relationships need to be respected.
132) Farmers traditionally built their houses so that no house could be seen from any other house. Settlements in the Hokianga also nestled into the landscape so that no settlement could be seen from any other settlement. The idea of dominating the landscape with architecture is new, and is sourced in a deeper desire to dominate nature. Thus from Kohukohu you cannot see Horeke, but you know that it is very close, just around the corner. A sense of infinity is created because limits cannot be seen. This design trick was consistently used in Japanese gardens. A small garden could seem to be without limits. For Kohukohu a relationship with the cosmos is primary. You know and yet the mystery of what you do not know remains.
Intensify the liveability of Kohukohu.