The city council yesterday notified the city’s district plan (2GP), which sets out the rules for development in the city.
The changes include a proposal to add 146 more heritage buildings to the 2GP’s heritage schedule, providing protection against demolition and inappropriate development.
But heritage advocate Ted Daniels was worried about the fact that several of the heritage-listed buildings were already slated for demolition. He was also concerned about the lack of an "overall" vision for the city’s streetscapes.
"At the moment you see all over the place where buildings are pulled down with no indication of anything or with some cheap kind of development that ... doesn’t fit in with the neighbourhood.
"I think the planning department should be much more involved in actually seeing new developments, how they will fit in within the streetscape."
The 104-year-old Edmund Anscombe-designed house, at 284 Stuart St, was one of the 146 heritage buildings included in the list.
A council spokesman said the consent holder had the right to exercise their consent for a period of five years from the date the resource consent was granted.
Elim Group applied to the council last year for consent to demolish the house and fell a protected lime tree to build a multi-storey apartment complex.
Mr Daniels said it was not even about the demolition of this building — although he was among the more than 100 submitters who opposed it — but about what replaced the building and whether it fitted the overall streetscape.
"I don’t have respect for developers who are just only thinking of their own pockets and not really thinking of the whole picture of Dunedin
... sometimes a building can go, but it should be replaced with a better building, not with something ugly or something that is totally out of character."
Mr Daniels, who has owned and redeveloped several heritage properties, said he was not against new development.
"If you look back in history, a lot of the buildings which were built in the 1860s or 1870s have been all replaced, but they’ve all been replaced by nicer, bigger and better buildings."
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Southern Heritage Trust said the plan was a good first step to protecting the city’s heritage and character.
"We are a heritage city, and indeed a heritage capital of New Zealand.
"Buildings all contribute to the legacy of the city, so we have to keep that in mind."
Submissions on the plan change are open until midnight, December 18.
