Those wanting to redevelop the Dunedin waterfront may do well to study the history of the idea. Just over a decade ago a similar plan was hatched to bring apartments, bars, a hotel and tree-lined boulevards to the area. City council reporter David Loughrey looks back on what happened.
On July 14, 2006, the Otago Daily Times reported on what was described as a "visionary plan" to redevelop the Dunedin harbourside.
With a map showing areas for tourism and residential activity, public wharves and new pontoons, and even an "Amsterdam-style" canal, the plan was a 50-year vision for the area.
Then, as in the latest proposal, access would be provided over the railway lines at Rattray St, and there would be room for an international hotel.
Mayor at the time Peter Chin said the area would become the sort of city asset the Town Belt had become.
While the project differed from the latest prepared by Architecture Van Brandenburg - it covered the area from Fryatt St to Mason St - it included the northern edge of the Steamer Basin, as does the new proposal.
And it was the concerns of businesses on that northern side that led to its undoing.
A civil and structural engineer’s report noting the sea wall on the northern side of the basin was "likely to collapse in due course" also did not help.
The plan was developed by the Dunedin City Council along with Port Otago’s property investment subsidiary, Chalmers Properties Ltd, owner of much of the harbourside land.
Some local businesses were initially supportive of the idea.
But a year later, concerns, including that the harbourside would suck the vitality out of the city, meant a move to consult on a district plan change passed only with the mayor’s casting vote.
In July 2008, the council reduced the scope of the proposal, after the high cost of some properties planned for public spaces and walkways made it unaffordable.
Businesses in the area were already raising concerns and when the plan change hearings began that same month, their voices only became louder.
Engineering, catering and other firms told the hearing they operated at all times of day and night and there were hundreds of truck movements each day. People moving to live and work in the area would soon start complaining about the noise and it would make it too difficult for them to continue.
Evidence from civil engineer Lou Robinson showed wharves and seawalls were in serious disrepair, and replacing them would be a multimillion-dollar exercise.
In 2009 the district plan changes were approved, but that was not the end of the matter.
With an Environment Court clash looming, mediation began.
In 2010 an agreement was signed that resulted in a smaller footprint for the redevelopment, removing the area north of Willis St.
A walkway was cut from the plan later that year and in 2011, the council voted for plans for a pedestrian and cycle bridge to "lie on the table".
In October 2011, the proposal was reduced even further: only the blocks on the southern side of the Steamer Basin were to be included, and there the project foundered on the harbour rocks. Council chief executive of the time Jim Harland said last night the council had been trying to enable the market to determine the best use for the area.
Work the council did showed there could be co-existence between industry and the new activities expected to move in.
The condition of the wharf was "a key issue" and would still be an issue today.
But Mr Harland said the likes of tech businesses in the warehouse precinct, and "quirky office space", would be perfectly suited to expand into the harbourside.
"I think it’s bold, it’s imaginative, and it challenges everybody to think about the future of that area," he said of the new proposal.
