The city’s built heritage was a key point of difference within New Zealand and needed to be preserved as much as practically possible, councillors agreed.
"More than 50% of visitors come to Dunedin because of heritage," Cr Barker said.
The Dunedin City Council yesterday adopted a draft heritage action plan that deals with issues ranging from neglect of buildings to complexity of regulatory requirements.
Cr Kevin Gilbert said there should be recognition from central government that councils were somewhat hamstrung in what they could do.
The cost of losing heritage needed to be recognised by Wellington, he said.
Proactive lobbying could be called for, as councils needed "a few teeth", he suggested.
"I look forward to seeing the implementation plan and getting a little more bolshy as things go on," Cr Gilbert said.
Cr Christine Garey said heritage trades work was often specialised, but lacked a formal pathway to it for young people who needed training.
Cr David Benson-Pope said the council had led the way in such high-profile projects as restoration of the Dunedin Railway Station.
The city owed a lot to "obsessive building lovers" who had often been able to find cost-effective ways to get good results, he said.
Implementation of the plan would be helped by putting funding in place in the council’s next 10-year plan "to get these actions done".
