Mount Eden tower to be demolished after cyclone collapse concern

Those living near a 100-year-old Auckland tower will have to wait a week longer to get into their homes after demolition of the structure has been given the green light.

On February 13 residents in apartments near the tower were evacuated in case the tower came down during high winds, which caused widespread damage across the North Island.

Auckland Emergency Management established a temporary exclusion zone around the Colonial Ammunition shot tower in Mt Eden on Monday evening, due to fears of the tower toppling in strong winds.

Occupants were ordered to evacuate the nearby area and they haven’t been allowed back in since.

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Auckland Council’s Craig Hobbs confirmed the Colonial Ammunition Company Shot Tower demolition would take place on Tuesday.

The work is expected to take approximately seven days to complete, he said.

“Residents who were evacuated ahead of Cyclone Gabrielle hitting Auckland on Monday 13 February won’t be able to move back into their homes until the works are finished,” he said.

Hobbs said they had been advised by Megan Woods, the Minister of Business, Innovation and Employment, that approval had been given for the shot tower to be demolished.

The shot tower is the last remaining 20th century tower of its sort in Australasia.

It was built to produce lead ammunition as demand increased during World War I.

Ammunition was made from melting lead and dropping it from the height of the tower into water.

The Colonial Ammunition Company that used the tower closed in 1986. The tower has a category one heritage status.