Locke Keith: Architects Bill — First Reading 
Locke Keith: Architects Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:613;Page:9766] 
KEITH LOCKE (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party will support the bill. It enables a good registration system for architects and we are particularly pleased that it makes provision under clause 67(1)(c) for a code of minimum standards of ethical conduct for architects. I think that is very important because there is quite a difficult problem in Auckland at the present time which has been highlighted over the last week by the  
New Zealand Herald 
— 
Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. We have a problem over here. I am sitting right beside Keith Locke and I am having trouble hearing him because the senior Government whip is screaming at the Ministers Lianne Dalziel and Ruth Dyson. I know that you noticed it Madam Speaker and I apologise but it is very hard in the House if they have long-range conversations. 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: The member is quite correct. If members are having conversations then they should be sitting down. I ask the Minister to please sit down while conversing. 
KEITH LOCKE 
: I will talk about the code of ethics and its importance given that at the moment Auckland faces the problem of the very rapid development of apartment blocks and units. As the  
New Zealand Herald 
 pointed out in a series of articles over the past week some of the buildings are of very poor architectural standard. There will be huge development—at the present time there are 45000 units in Auckland which is estimated to rise to about 500000 units by 2050. We need to accommodate an extra 100 people per day in Auckland so having the right built environment with architects playing the best role in it is very important. We just need to go through the streets of Auckland. I particularly dislike going along upper Symonds Street and seeing little boxes of very poor architectural standard. Throughout Auckland so many apartments are being constructed with poor noise insulation no outlook and often facing directly on to a neighbouring block. They are an eyesore to the community and to people passing by them and are certainly an eyesore for the people who live in them. People get quite depressed if they live in that sort of poorly designed unit and live in such units for many years. It is not good for people’s mental health and well-being.  
It is not just a problem for architects. It is a problem for the community as a whole and particularly for town planning systems. Auckland City and other cities are trying to address these problems. Auckland City has urban design standards but they do not really apply to the suburbs in the way that they should and Auckland City is trying to develop guidelines to rectify this. I think that architects can play a great role if they abide by the code of ethics and develop proper professional standards. They can make sure that the standards put forward by councils are upheld and implemented by architects and work in with the community. Architects can be models for working with the community. Around Auckland different communities are trying to insist on proper community design standards to protect existing heritage buildings etc. With this registration system and with architects being more organised on the basis of a code of ethics hopefully we can redress some of the problems. 
The  
New Zealand Herald  
outlines exactly how it works. The problem is often that in designing apartments today the best architects—the ones who would insist on higher architectural standards—are not getting the work because developers come along and ask how they can build something the most cheaply sell it on and make the greatest profit for the smallest amount of expenditure. It is explained in the  
New Zealand Herald  
that if developers want to build 145 cheap apartments they will find an architect who will do it. The problem is that there are architects around who are not the best or are not quality architects who take this work and build these very bad apartments. I think that this bill will help rectify that situation so the Green Party will support it to the select committee.