Dunedin councillors would love to do whatever is possible to discourage "demolition by neglect", but they have been told there is little room in which they can move.
Central government had not established law that might enable a city bylaw to be effective, the Dunedin City Council was advised at a meeting yesterday.
Cr David Benson-Pope wanted the council to do whatever it could to make it harder for property owners to allow buildings to deteriorate to the point where demolition became the only viable option.
There has been concern that some building owners have seemed to use this as a technique for getting around protection of heritage.
A motion was put up by Cr Benson-Pope at yesterday’s customer and regulatory committee meeting requesting council staff investigate the costs and benefits of using the Building Act as a means to potentially address demolition by neglect and degradation of the streetscape.
The resolution passed unanimously.
Councillors were irritated a few building owners were "unmotivated" to make good use of their properties, although some developers did a particularly good job of incorporating heritage in design.
Cr Christine Garey was curious about what might be behind building owners lacking motivation to pursue improvement.
Cr Lee Vandervis suggested more emphasis should be placed on heritage precincts.
Cr Jim O’Malley said the answer about why councils were hindered in what they could do rested with central government.
Cr Kevin Gilbert said some of the city’s impressive heritage was allowed to crumble and he expected any response from Wellington policymakers would be glacial.
