Has the Dunedin City Council lost all perspective of what makes Dunedin unique in this country? Has it forgotten that Dunedin’s reputation, here and overseas, is the heritage city of the South — touted as a "must-see" to travellers worldwide and a source of pride to those of us who call Dunedin home?
Yes, we may need more houses for our growing population, though how many and of what type is open to debate. It is what we stand to lose in the process that concerns me more.
More significantly, why am I and many other heritage supporters who go back 30 and more years having to repeat ourselves? It seems the lessons learnt back in the 1980s have been forgotten — when our Municipal Chambers were for the chop, the warehouse precinct was just a cluster of decrepit old buildings no-one wanted, substantial early houses were bulldozed down to build cheap blocks of ownership flats and the Otago Girls’ High School was deemed no longer fit for purpose.
There was an outcry then over the attitude of our city councillors, many of whom viewed Dunedin’s Victorian image as having to bow to modernity if the city was to survive economically. Perhaps we need another public stand on the issue. But it does require a bit more teamwork than we have on the ground at present, such as council staff, for instance, to investigate what lies behind applications for demolition permits before granting them, instead of "oh, whoops, we didn’t realise there was a party wall"; or, does anyone know who built it and when, and who occupied it? Should there be an archaeological site investigation?
A case in point is the former Scribes building opposite the North Ground, which, despite its listing by the DCC as a "character-contributing building", was treated with as much respect as a battered old shed in someone’s backyard. Where was Heritage NZ in all this? Does a building or site have to be fully researched and on the heritage register before any action can be taken? Even if it is only words of advice in appropriate ears, it could still hold off the bulldozers at the very least until further investigation of the site’s significance.
While it may be too late for Scribes, the concern from my perspective is how many other buildings like it are now at risk of demolition due to the same unthinking attitude. Registered or not, there are still buildings out there, unresearched and possibly a little worse for wear, but deserving of attention and a chance to tell their story of early Dunedin before being shunted off to the landfill.
Back in the 1980s, only a handful of buildings were registered and only then, by the recommendation of the former NZ Historic Places Trust’s volunteer regional committees. Following my appointment as the trust’s first regional officer for Otago and Southland in 1986, it became my job to support those committees and get as many eligible buildings and sites on the register as possible. With so many historic structures at risk, there simply wasn’t time for such a long and detailed process and so we fell back on to plan B. That was to liaise with council staff, owners of at-risk buildings and structural engineers. Because a building looked a bit old and tired, many owners believed demolition was the only option, when all that was needed in most cases was earthquake strengthening to whatever degree required, a bit of imagination on how the building could be adapted for a new use and, dependent on the latter, reorganising the spaces within.
The result? Most often a financial gain for the owner, who didn’t have to start from scratch with a new build. But it was an even bigger gain for the city of Dunedin, for which tourism was then barely a gleam in the eye.
For those who see merit in modern buildings replacing old ones, it is interesting to see what visitors to the city choose to photograph. You can bet it will not be a new build. Dunedin has long since built its reputation on its heritage. It is now known worldwide. Apart from our wildlife within the city’s limits, it is what so many visitors have heard about and have come to see first hand. And it isn’t always the railway station, municipal chambers, Larnach Castle or our beautiful churches they capture in glossy print to show the folks back home. It includes streetscapes, quaint little shops and the rows of grand old houses that line the hill slopes above the city.
Which brings me to another concern likely to threaten the city’s heritage stock. The 2GP — a council plan that allows owners of early homes directly above the Town Belt to subdivide their sections to provide sites for new housing units. Other areas of the city could well be suitable for infill development, but why the lower slopes of Roslyn, Maori Hill and Mornington, where the majority of our early prestige homes and their long-established gardens stand?
Many of these mansions were built for our city’s benefactors, Richard Hudson among them, with stories that tell of the era when Dunedin was the largest commercial and manufacturing centre in New Zealand. To suggest we build cheap one or two-bedroom units in front, behind or beside these houses, or worse, demolishing the houses themselves to make room for more units, would be like turning our backs on what Dunedin stands for and what attracts people to the city.
This new designation does not make sense at all and smacks of very little thought having gone into the impact it could create.
For instance, who will judge whether or not the infill unit is appropriate in terms of material or style?
Harking back to the new build to replace Scribes, it may be considered a nod towards the past to create the downstairs windows to appear arched and to install faux cast iron railings around the roof garden, but it is still pastiche whichever way you view it.
Come on DCC, we know you can do better.
And those of us who fought so hard in the 1970s and ’80s to put Dunedin’s heritage on the world stage deserve better too.
This does not make sense and smacks of very little thought having gone into the implications arising from these areas being designated residential 2.
■ Lois Galer is a former journalist and author of books about Dunedin’s built heritage. Between 1986 and 1996 she was the New Zealand Historic Places Trust’s regional officer for Otago and Southland.
