Wellingtonians give their views on whether the Gordon Wilson flats deserve heritage status.

The future of Wellington's derelict Gordon Wilson flats is still far from certain.

Although the Victoria University-owned building has heritage status, the prospect of demolition is still on the table, but the university is being coy about its plans.

On Wednesday, Wellington City Council voted to rubber stamp a zone change for the site, located on The Terrace, converting it from an inner residential area to an institutional precinct.

ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF The long-running saga of what to do with Wellington's dilapidated Gordon Wilson Flats is still up in the air. But a zone change means Victoria University now has more scope to plan its fate.

The change means the university can now use the site for whatever purpose it pleases, not just for housing.

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Councillor Andy Foster – one of two who heard evidence on the rezoning – believed demolition was by far the most likely future for the building.

CAMERON BURNELL/STUFF On Wednesday, Wellington City Council rubber stamped the zone change for the site, from an inner residential area to an institutional precinct.

Although the heritage status technically "trumps" demolition, there is nothing to stop the university from applying for a resource consent to bowl it over.

"The change gives the university more flexibility ... but doesn't give it the [automatic] power to demolish. That is another process the university would have to go through."

Foster said he had no doubt demolition would be contested, leading to more hearings.

ROSS GIBLIN\STUFF Councillor Andy Foster – one of two councillors who heard evidence on the rezoning – believed demolition was by far the most likely future.

There was no guarantee of getting resource consent and few heritage-listed buildings were given the green light for demolition, he said.

Foster told councillors It was possible the building, which had "concrete cancer", could be saved but at a price. He did not believe anyone was likely to stump up the funds.

Evidence showed there would likely be a loss of at least $17 million to revamp the Gordon Wilson flats, and the chances of the the council contributing to that would be "about zero", he said.

CAMERON BURNELL/STUFF It is understood there would likely be a loss of at least $17m to revamp the Gordon Wilson flats.

"The court decision said it was worth heritage status but stopped short in saying whether they believed it was economically viable to do anything with it in the future, and that is interesting."

Councillors Iona Pannett and Sarah Free did not support "control of the site" being given to the university, so did not support the council rubber-stamping the zone change.

Victoria University property services director Stephen Costley would not say if the university was considering demolition.

ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF The Gordon Wilson flats were hastily evacuated in 2012 after engineers found the building's concrete facade could collapse in an earthquake or strong wind.

The confirmed planning guideline meant the university was now able to consider the best use of the site with certainty, he said.

The complex, which the university bought off Housing New Zealand in 2014, has been unoccupied since 2012 after engineers found the building's concrete facade could collapse in an earthquake or strong wind.

The university was clear in its intention to knock the flats down and stated it would use the site to provide a safe public pedestrian route between its campus and Ghuznee St.

Since then, its demolition has been mooted several times, with the council voting in favour of removing the building's heritage status as part of its 2016 District Plan.

But the decision to delist the building was successfully appealed by the Architecture Centre.