WATERFRONT Watch has slammed the Wellington City Council’s Waitangi Precinct design competition.

A submission to the council highlights the concerns Waterfront Watch has with the brief for the competition. They suggest the council wait until they have commitments from potential occupants of the buildings before asking for designs.

"The misleading nature of the proposal is proven by the requirement for restaurants in a city which is already oversupplied with such venues," says the submission. "Where are the commitments from operators willing to take the commercial risk of running such ventures in a city which is oversupplied with food outlets?

"This proposal ignores the failure of the Food Hall on Queens Wharf, which was much closer to large numbers of potential patrons than the Waitangi Park area.

The building on Site 2 is proposed for recreational activities which are already popular on Queens Wharf. Where is the evidence that the operator is willing to move, or that a competition is available to provide such activities? Such evidence should be provided before the competition goes ahead."

The brief’s statement that the building footprints are indicative and are not meant to impose strict constraints on the number, size or location of new structures. They also question the need for car parking buildings and challenge the council to protect the city’s remaining viewshafts of the harbour.

"Waterfront Watch believes that the citizens of Wellington have made it clear during the entire lengthy consultation process that they do not support such reductions of their city’s iconic views.

"Thus, the design blatantly goes against the wishes of the citizens. If citizens’ views are to be recognised, the design brief would have to encourage architects to reduce the footprints in order to give back the views which will be lost."