When the town’s historic breakwater was this winter recognised as a category 1 historic structure, Ms Bauchop wrote the report that preceded the change.
The Waitaki District Council’s newly appointed first heritage adviser has done extensive historical research about the district and this week her appointment was praised by both Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher and Heritage New Zealand, where she has worked for the past 15 years.
Mr Kircher called recruiting Ms Bauchop for the new position a "coup" for the district and said she would help to further elevate Oamaru’s status as a heritage landmark.
"Her knowledge and understanding of our heritage buildings and what we’ve actually got just means we are ahead of the game by taking her on — we don’t have to wait for her to come up to speed, she is up to speed," Mr Kircher said.
Heritage New Zealand Otago-Southland area manager Jonathan Howard endorsed both the creation of the position at the council and Ms Bauchop for the role.
"She has an intimate knowledge of buildings’ connections with each other and owners’ connections in that area, particularly in Oamaru. She’s got a really good contextual knowledge," he said.
In an interview with the Otago Daily Times this week, Ms Bauchop admitted having a "fairly good grasp" of the district’s history.
"For Oamaru itself, I love the coherence of the place, and the stone — the use of stone and the intricate architecture and how condensed it all is into one space. And North Otago, more generally, it’s just such a beautiful area and it has lots of those lovely surprises hiding in the hills," she said.
She would not pick a favourite among Oamaru’s historic buildings, but spoke about the contrast between the Harbour-Tyne Sts area, where the "backroom workers" who worked in connection to the port laboured, and the at times "ridiculously grand" civic and commercial properties on the Oamaru’s main street where businessmen and politicians congregated.
Ms Bauchop’s role in the planning department would help owners protect buildings, navigate refurbishments or the adaptive reuse of old buildings, and the like, but she was keen to engage with the community and local Maori, she said.
In Dunedin, where a heritage policy planner was appointed about nine years ago, the establishment of a similar position had worked "really well" and the city’s warehousing area had "just completely transformed", Ms Bauchop said.
"I think it’s a good chance for the council to take a leading role in those relationships with people who care about heritage and are developing heritage."
