Unconsented Michelin-awarded Auckland restaurant Milenta wins Environment Court temporary order

An Auckland restaurant, which has recently been given a Michelin Guide award, has won a temporary stay against an order that the structure it is housed in is illegal and must be removed.

Milenta in Victoria Park Markets can continue serving in the meantime.

Judge David Caldwell in the Environment Court granted Milenta owner VMP Investments a temporary stay against the Auckland Council’s abatement notice.

That notice demanded that the restaurant go: VMP was required to remove the illegal timber structure and attached canopy.

The building was ordered to be demolished on June 7.

But VPM argued the council was wrong to issue that abatement notice and had its appeal heard on June 17.

“VPM considers that the outcome of the resource consent appeal may affect whether removal is required,” said the new Environment Court decision issued on June 24.

It submitted that requiring removal of the structure before the resource consent appeal is determined is premature and may result in significant, unnecessary and irreversible hardship and loss to the Milenta restaurant, its owners, and staff, the decision said.

The application for stay is granted pending the determination of the abatement notice appeal.

“The stay applies until further orders. Leave is reserved to apply for reconsideration of the stay, or further orders, if circumstances change.”

The restaurant has hosted a celebrity’s engagement party and scored 19 out of 20 by reviewer Jesse Mulligan.

Milenta, operating for the last four years, was the venue last March for the engagement party of broadcaster Wilhelmina Shrimpton and her fiancé, rugby referee Ben O’Keeffe.

It has been trading since early 2022.

The Herald reported in May how it was denied retrospective consent.

Independent hearing commissioner Heike Lutz turned down the application from VPM Investments to have the restaurant at 210-218 Victoria St West declared legal.

The restaurant is beneath Drake St, below a pōhutukawa which is protected and in a courtyard meant for wider use.

Adverse effects on heritage values, character and amenity were more than minor and had not been adequately avoided, remedied or mitigated, Lutz found.

The site is owned by Grigori Koulanov, a New Zealand entrepreneur, investor and business owner, via VPM Investments.

Koulanov told the panel the restaurant was a lightweight, predominantly timber structure within a courtyard.

It was intended to activate an underutilised part of the precinct.

He wanted to support the ongoing commercial viability of Victoria Park Markets and to do so in a manner that was reversible, sensitive to heritage values, and consistent with the character of the precinct.

The restaurant had been operating for some time and had become a popular destination, contributing positively to foot traffic and vibrancy, he told the panel.

Koulanov said that, based on his observations as a landlord within the precinct, the restaurant had improved passive surveillance, perceptions of safety, and visitor dwell time, and had complemented the existing mix of activities.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.