Dunedin City Council – Media Release
DCC Strategy To Breath New Life Into South Dunedin Retail Area
Last reviewed: 07 Apr 2010 12:04pm
The Dunedin City Council is about to consult with the public on the future of the South Dunedin Retail Centre. The consultation will be the first step in the development of a strategy to revitalise the area.
The DCC has released an Issues and Opportunities consultation document, and is inviting feed-back from the community on the range and relative importance of the issues and options identified to date, as well as support for, and prioritisation of, options identified.
Chairman of the DCC’s Planning & Environment committee, Cr Michael Guest, is excited by the opportunities the strategy will offer to the South Dunedin community and the wider city. “I have vivid childhood memories of the special character of South Dunedin with its variety of shops and verandahs. This strategy, arrived at jointly by the Council and the community, is an initiative which is well over-due and which we sincerely hope will bring a new vitality to the area and go some way towards restoring that well-remembered South Dunedin ambience.”
The move has also received strong support from the local South Dunedin Business Association. President Jane Orbell says “We’re really pleased that most of the issues we raised through last year’s Community Plan process have been identified as ‘opportunities’ in the document. South Dunedin is changing – it’s becoming busier, and the time is certainly ripe for us to turn these visions into reality with the support of the Council and the wider Dunedin community. We are excited to be working with the DCC teams towards a long-hoped for positive future for the South Dunedin retail area as part of a stronger community for the benefit of all Dunedin residents.”
Steve Miles, DCC Principal Urban Designer, City Planning, says the Council feels the community has a leading role to play in any revitalisation, especially in those areas where the Council has limited influence.
The final strategy will propose a programme of physical improvement and community-focused projects to be delivered by the Council, in partnership with the South Dunedin community.
The Issues and Opportunities consultation document lays out perceived strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities on topics such as retail development, amenity and community development. It looks at under-used shops in the retail space and questions whether there are opportunities to develop businesses catering to the increasingly elderly population nearby.
The report notes the lack of open public spaces and wonders whether, if people were encouraged to spend more time in the area for meeting friends or other social activities, they would spend more money while there. Emphasising the quality of historic buildings in the area to enhance townscape and amenity values, and capitalising on the uniqueness of the nearby Gasworks Museum are among other suggestions.
Copies of the document will be circulated to community stakeholders and organisations and to owners and occupiers of buildings in the South Dunedin retail area. Copies of the document will be available from various South Dunedin outlets and on the http://www.dunedin.govt.nz website.
Submissions on the proposals will close on 28 May 2010.
Contact DCC on 477 4000.
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
What if? Dunedin... 
### ODT Online Thu, 8 Apr 2010
Council unveils plans for South Dunedin
By Chris Morris
A plan to arrest the continuing decline of South Dunedin has been unveiled by the Dunedin City Council. The draft South Dunedin Retail Centre Strategy consultation document was presented to media in Dunedin yesterday by council staff and South Dunedin Business Association president Jane Orbell.
Read more
I always felt that, if they were really serious about kickstarting South Dunedin, if they truely believed that the area could succeed, then they should have put our money where their mouth was. Be bold, and lead by example.
That’s where Wall Street should have been built.
Interesting thought Phil. Would need to be part of a broader plan so that it was integrated, and need to watch for unintended consequences.
### ODT Online Fri, 9 Apr 2010
Editorial: South Dunedin
The South Dunedin retail area has been battered by wider trends in shopping. Locally-owned and smaller shops struggle against the buying power and advertising spend of retail giants, causing financial troubles for many of the minnows. Others, however, find profitable niches and continue to trade successfully. At the same time, drive-to and easy-park shops attract motorists at the expense of the older strip shopping, and the larger and more vibrant town centre is often more alluring. Nonetheless, South Dunedin battles on and its popularity at times continues to surprise despite these seemingly inexorable currents. There are enough people living nearby…to attract a reasonable trade.
Read more
Also in regards to South Dunedin…
The resource consent decision for Progressive Enterprises Ltd is out. The application for the non-complying activity to build a Countdown supermarket at Andersons Bay Rd and Braemar St has been declined by Dunedin City Council. In short, effects more than minor. Received my copy of the decision in Friday’s mail – I dare say ODT will cover it next week.
Ooh. I think that’s quite pleasing. Napier has two Countdowns within a block, which seems odd, and I don’t see any compelling reason for Dunedin having them 3 blocks apart. I appreciate that there is a real move to big is better with respect to supermarkets, but I actually stopped going to Countdown after its last expansion. It seemed to make it worse rather than better. Narrower aisles, but with no more variety in them; and fewer staff and longer queues. Their challenge should be to rebuild the Woolworths with an underground carpark, and then have their big Countdown perhaps.
After having done their market research, ah, Progressive saw that South Dunedin’s PaknSave is doing the most business (PROFITS!!! exclamation) of anywhere in town – so seemed convenient to do some gouging we ask? At hearing Progressive brought up the ‘closeness’ of Countdowns elsewhere, can make a buck either way…smaller sites offer a limited range of product and less carparking ability…Woolworths site is tight, reclaimed land but not in the same order of contamination as the proposed Andersons Bay Rd site. They will always have Plan A, B and C while PaknSave is raking it in – watch this space.
### ODT Online Mon, 12 Apr 2010
Countdown supermarket plan rejected
By Chris Morris
Supermarket operator Progressive Enterprises’ bid to build a Countdown outlet in South Dunedin – beside the Dunedin Gasworks Museum – has been rejected by the Dunedin City Council’s resource consents hearings committee. However, the committee’s decision has left the door open for the supermarket giant to redesign its proposed store and make a second attempt.
Read more
James – further to your comment, you probably caught this at Twitter today:
http://twitpic.com/1f0llv
Decision for Progressive Enterprises Ltd:
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/notified/progressive
### ODT Online Tue, 13 Apr 2010
Museum still expects supermarket neighbour
By Chris Morris
One of the Dunedin Gasworks Museum trustees expects to have a supermarket as a neighbour eventually, despite the setback dealt to Progressive Enterprises by the Dunedin City Council’s hearings committee.
Read more
### ODT Online Sat, 2 Oct 2010
Appeal to court over store plan
By David Loughrey
Progressive Enterprises’ appeal against a Dunedin City Council decision to deny consent for a new Countdown store will head to what could be a two-week hearing in the Environment Court next month.
Read more
### ODT Online Thu, 20 Oct 2011
Countdown begins
By Simon Hartley
The first pre-cast concrete wall panels have been erected in the $10 million construction of supermarket chain Progressive Enterprises’ Countdown premises in Andersons Bay Rd, Dunedin.
Read more
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Simon Hartley says “The site was occupied by the Dunedin gasworks from 1863 until its closure in 1987; with one neighbour being a small, community-run Dunedin Gasworks Museum.”
Had to laugh, the Dunedin Gasworks Museum is owned by the Dunedin City Council. The Council completed the $900,000 restoration and redevelopment of the former Fitting Shop in December. (Link) The Gasworks Museum Trust is seeking a further $2 million to finish refurbishment work at the complex.
The Gasworks Museum Trust will of course have to work its guts out to raise this $2m – unlike our bludger brothers in the ORFU who just have to leisurely pull strings to get what they want – and more.