Chapel’s protection notice no closer

Press, 27 July 1989, Page 7

Chapel’s protection notice no closer

By

DEBORAH McPHERSON

The Historic Places Trust was no closer to a decision on whether to issue a protection notice on Christchurch Hospital’s historic Nurses’ Memorial Chapel. The trust has upgraded the chapel’s classification from C to B, which means it could apply for a protection notice to save the building from demolition as planned by the Canterbury Area Health Board. The board plans to relocate parts of the chapel’s interior in a new chapel within the hospital redevelopment.

The trust’s conservation officer in Wellington, Mr Peter Richardson, said it had not decided to seek a protection notice.. “I do not know when they will make a decision, but they are making great haste.”

The trust realised the board could demolish the chapel now, as it had given the three months notice required under the council’s District Scheme. “But they have given an

undertaking they will not,” said Mr Richardson. The board yesterday decided to write to the Minister of Conservation, Mr Woollaston, protesting against the reclassification. Board members were concerned that the board’s interests had not been canvassed at the trust’s meeting last week. The chairman, Mr Tom Grigg, said his request to attend the meeting had been turned down.

Mr Grigg said the Mayor, Sir Hamish Hay, had said the council would probably appoint a commissioner to investigate any appeal. Mr David Close said the “eleventh-hour reclassification” would destroy town planning bodies’ confidence in the classification system.

Professor Don Beaven said taking legal action to appeal against a protection order would be costly and lengthy. Mr Close said that the board should look at a two chapel option. The trust’s regional

officer in Christchurch, Mrs Pam Wilson, rejected suggestions that the board had not had an opportunity to put forward its views.

The board had already made a full submission to the trust explaining why it thought the chapel’s C classification should remain, she said.

Mrs Wilson said the legal cost of fighting the reclassification should convince the board not to go ahead. The Friends of the Chapel and the trust had been trying to make it easy for the board to allow the chapel to stay. “We have even proposed a separate trust be set up to administer the old chapel, while a new chapel could go ahead in a modern style.” It was unfortunate that people wanting to tear down old buildings saw a C classification as an “open ticket to demolish. The fact that it is classified at all as meriting preservation should not be an encouragement to demolish it.”