The Temuka pottery collection at the North Otago Museum has huge potential as a significant asset for the Waitaki district, the former museum director who started it, Bruce McCulloch, believes.
The decision in the mid-1980s to start the collection was "a positive step in preserving a significant part of New Zealand's cultural heritage".
The collection was now "nationally important".
Yesterday, Mr McCulloch was at the Waitaki District Council's public forum to plead for the council not to be too hasty in disposing of the collection.
In 1984, the then-Oamaru Borough Council decided to collect the pottery, based on a recommendation from its museum advisory committee.
Mr McCulloch said this had the full sanction and support of the South Canterbury, Temuka, Canterbury and Otago Museums because huge amounts of the pottery were leaving New Zealand.
"Without that vision, most of this [Oamaru] collection would now be spread around the world," he said.
The collection became the largest in New Zealand, aided by donations from the maker, New Zealand Insulators Ltd.
Mr McCulloch said the collection told a variety of stories, from the "stealing" of original Wedgewood moulds to the social history of tobacco use, from the variety of clays and glazes to the myriad forms and types, even for electric jugs.
It would be shortsighted to dispose of the collection now, Mr McCulloch said, suggesting a few years in storage or it being given or lent to a local organisation as a tourist attraction.
Mr McCulloch was also concerned about the way the collection was being disposed of, warning that could affect donations and bequests in the future.
If the collection was to be sold, that money should be returned to the museum's Ivy Pollard bequest fund.
Former both Waitaki District Council councillor and Historic Places Trust regional manager, Bruce Albiston, urged the council not to rush its decision, to consult the public and to ensure, if the collection was sold, that it was at commercial values.
Oamaru potter Margot Wethey said her views reflected those in her letter and other letters to the editor published in the Otago Daily Times .
"The thread of Temuka pottery runs through New Zealand and to eliminate the collection would spoil that thread," she said.
