27) History suggests that planning in the West should be very different from planning in the East. The contrast between east and west in New Zealand existed long before the first canoes arrived. The trade winds swept across the southern oceans battering the west coast with wind and rain. The east was the soft underbelly of the land. Tasman found the west coast and sailed away from this inhospitable land. Cook found the land of plenty on the east coast and stayed on to enjoy good anchorages, fresh water, and plentiful food. Cook foreshadowed the lifestyle of the Kerikeri orchardist. Out west it was much tougher. The captain of the “Dromedary” looked over the bar and turned back to return to the Bay of Islands. The first whare wananga was in the west. Thinking rather than conforming. Pompallier told his priests to retain te reo and ancient customs. He was two hundred years ahead of his time. In the east Marsden sought conversion to the security of the establishment. In the west rugged self sufficient pakehas took Maori wives and merged into the mangroves with hardly a trace. In the east there was settlement because the English knew what a town was. The east was bi-cultural and cultured. In the west the marae remained dominant. The east became materialistic. The west remained deeply spiritual. Dark and foreboding. Lost in the fog. Local whakapapa is local whakapapa, and it comes warts and all. The problem to avoid is revisionist planning which sets out to rewrite history.
28) It is the differences between one Heritage Precinct and another which are important. Planning which looks for the common ground misses the whole point. There is none. A long straight line of kerbing and channelling is perfect in the East, but ludicrous in the west. The nondescript road which belongs nowhere in particular is the perfect design solution when a street sign will eventually proudly name this place “Ocean Vista Crescent” although no sign of the sea is to be seen. Rakautapu Road is different in every way. The name speaks to us, but so does the design of the road. Revisionist engineering thinks that one road is like any other road.
29) In a perfect world every place would be different from every other place. Heritage Precincts are only the places which have not yet been homogenised by dull conformity. We love our friends because they are such an odd bunch with such a peculiar assortment of eccentricities.
30) Heritage Precincts are not remnants. They are rather an indication of what might be.
We need to learn from them so that one day every township, every road, and every building will be absolutely local.
31) We do not speak of classical English. English may be a universal language, but thousands of words are absolutely local. English has always been vernacular. On the West Coast of the South Island there is a sign “A vegetarian is just another name for a piss-poor hunter”. It could belong nowhere else. You know where you are. The planning process tends to look for common ground. It would do better to begin observing differences.
It is our differences which define who we are.
It is the differences between Heritge Precincts which are important.