Received from JimmyJones
Sat, 17 Mar 2017 at 10:03 p.m.
Subject: RE: Reserves and beaches consultation failure
Message: Find attached an outstanding submission on the horse-hating bylaw. I am sure there were many good subs, but I noticed this one from an 11-year-old who has a horse called Tonka. She makes a very good case for freedom. Like many of the other submitters, she bypassed the professionally organised DCC misinformation and understood that the DCC are threatening a total ban on horses on beaches.
I think other people should see it, I have removed her name from the submission in case she wasn’t expecting widespread publicity.
The submitters tell us that no other Council has a ban on horse riding on beaches in New Zealand.
OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE TRADITION IS HORSES ON THE BEACH
—P*** OFF DCC
[tikitouringnz.blogspot.co.nz]
NO Sand Dunes are at risk if DCC gets off its dung-darkened tail to clearly mark Community-agreed entry and exit points to relevant/historical beaches for horses, light vehicles with training rigs, and sulkies.
WE OWN THE FRIGGING BEACHES
No one we know doesn’t love the sight of powerfully fit horses exercising on rural and urban beaches as they’ve done for generations, according to tides typically discreet and in harmony with other beach users and the coastal environment generally.
If there’s a problem it means DCC hasn’t bothered to consult properly on practical measures and agreed outcomes that enable All beach users to ENJOY OUR COASTAL RESOURCE.
Instead: RED-TAPE COUNCIL BUREAUCRATS WITH GREENIE AGENDAS
dccmakeworkschemesdccmakeworkschemesdccmakeworkschemes
No doubt influenced by ‘academics’ from the University of Otago dune study.
WHO ARE the environmental lobbyists within DCC moving to SHUT DOWN our freedom to move ?
DCC would like to know what you think about the proposed bylaw. Your views will shape the final document. The focus of this bylaw review is to direct recreational users and our community to the best reserve and beach spaces for their activities. Your feedback is an important part of the review and we appreciate the time you take to make a submission.
An information pack is available from the DCC Customer Services Centre, by phoning 477 4000 or online.
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At Facebook:
Council staff would not be interviewed yesterday, but in written responses to questions stressed the need to protect dune systems.
### ODT Online Wed, 8 Feb 2017 Plan for horses on beaches ‘overkill’
By Chris Morris
Nostrils are flaring as the Dunedin City Council faces a backlash over tougher new rules for horses on the city’s beaches. The proposal would restrict horses to thin strips of sand between dunes and high-water marks at four beaches where the animals were permitted to run. The idea has triggered an outcry from riders, as trainers warned of injuries to their animals while one horse trek business owner feared it could spell the end of his venture. The changes were included in the council’s reserves and beaches bylaw, which would remain the subject of public consultation until Friday. Read more
### dezeen.com 16 December 2015 MAD’s sinuous Harbin Opera House completes in north-east China
Beijing studio MAD has completed an opera house in the Chinese city of Harbin, featuring an undulating form that wraps two concert halls and a huge public plaza. The opera house is the first and largest building that MAD has designed as part of Harbin Cultural Island, a major new arts complex among the wetlands of the Songhua River. The 79,000-square-metre building features a three-petalled plan. One houses a grand theatre with space for up to 1,600 visitors, while the other is a more intimate performance space for an audience of 400. The building is designed to mirror the sinuous curves of the marsh landscape, with an exterior of smooth white aluminium panels and glass. These contrast with the rooftops, where a textured surface of ice-inspired glass pyramids allows light in from above. According to MAD, the building is designed “in response to the force and spirit of the northern city’s untamed wilderness and frigid climate”. “We envision Harbin Opera House as a cultural centre of the future – a tremendous performance venue, as well as a dramatic public space that embodies the integration of human, art and the city identity, while synergistically blending with the surrounding nature,” said studio founder Ma Yansong.
MAD has designed several cultural buildings, including an artificial island of art caves, an icicle-shaped wood sculpture museum also in Harbin and Chicago’s proposed George Lucas Museum. Curved surfaces are a recurring theme through them all, picking up Ma’s ambition for a new style of architecture, referencing the landscapes of traditional Chinese paintings.
“We treat architecture as a landscape,” he told Dezeen in an interview last year.
The smooth surfaces of the opera house’s exterior continue inside. Read more + Images
Related movie: MAD wants to “invent a new typology” for high-rise architecture, says Ma Yansong
In this exclusive video interview filmed in Venice, Ma Yansong of Chinese architects MAD explains his concept for a “shan-shui city”, a high density urban development inspired by traditional Chinese paintings of mountain ranges.
Agricultural Hall. Burton Brothers studio. Te Papa Archives [C.012324]
His Majesty’s Theatre, Dunedin [render via realestate.co.nz]
Sammy’s portico to Crawford Street [dunedinmusic.com]
REAL ESTATE BLURB | Built 1896 Agricultural Hall 1902 Renamed His Majesty’s Theatre 1983 Sammy’s Cabaret & Restaurant
Time for someone else to take over the reins – with fresh enthusiasm and ideas for this iconic Dunedin property. Located in the heart of Dunedin’s rapidly developing ‘Warehouse Precinct’ it lends itself to a multitude of uses. Building 1500m with frontages to both Crawford & Vogel Streets. http://www.remax.co.nz/10395003
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█ SOUL DESTROYING LACK OF DISTRICT PLAN SCHEDULING
‘An offer pending consent for Sammy’s would more likely mean plans to considerably alter or demolish the building.’ –Glen Hazelton, DCC Policy Planner (Heritage)
█ SHINING LIGHTS
“It’s already protected under our Act, that’s the main thing.” –Matthew Schmidt, HNZ Otago Southland regional archaeologist
### ODT Online Wed, 18 Nov 2015 Uncertain future for venue
By Craig Borley Demolition could be an option for Sammy’s, one of Dunedin’s most loved live music venues and one of the warehouse precinct’s largest buildings. On the market for “a few months” and with a list price of $240,000, the 1896 building had attracted attention from several potential buyers, owner Sam Chin said yesterday. Interest from one of those potential buyers was contingent on gaining a resource consent, Mr Chin said. He could not name the potential buyer and did not know what that resource consent was for. Read more
BIG QUEST TO FIND THE RIGHT NEW OWNER – MEANWHILE, CITIZEN DUTY TO PROTECT THE BUILDING AS AN ICONIC PRESENCE IN VOGEL STREET HERITAGE PRECINCT AND WAREHOUSE PRECINCT
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Sammy’s Dunedin NZ 7.9.12 [Sola Rosa via staticflickr.com]
Sammy’s (2011) [alizarinlizard.blogspot.co.nz]
“….we got back to Dunedin by lunchtime and unloaded the P.A gear into Sammys then went home an slept the rest of the day till we had to come back an sound check..
but yeah, played later on that night and had a blast. Sammys looks absolutely amazing now days if you havent seen it already.”
–Alizarin Lizard, Dunedin psych-pop quartet
But what looked good at night under lights in 2011 was profoundly “trouble” due to lack of diligent building repair and maintenance, or any appreciation for fire safety…. and more words from Mr Chin….
[via comments at What if? Dunedin]
Elizabeth June 1, 2011 at 2:58 am
### D Scene 1-6-11 Future of Sammy’s uncertain after eviction (page 3)
The future of notable Dunedin music venue Sammy’s is uncertain, after the eviction earlier this week of the operators of the Crawford St business. Building owner Sam Chin told D Scene yesterday that he had moved into the venue on Monday night and changed the locks. “The venue is closed for now and we’re just cleaning things up.”
{continues} #bookmark [search required]
Elizabeth June 23, 2011 at 2:33 pm
### ODT Online Thu, 23 Jun 2011 Nightclub owner angry over damage at venue
By Nigel Benson
Sammy’s owner Sam Chin has experienced some wild nights at the nightclub over the years. But he was not prepared for the sight which greeted him when he changed the locks on the building three weeks ago, after not receiving rent from the lessee since November. […] The venue opened in 1896 as the Agricultural Hall, before being renamed His Majesty’s Theatre, and has a long history as a hall, theatre and live music venue. Mr Chin said he wanted to maintain that tradition and reopen it for concerts next month. Read more
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Elizabeth August 7, 2011 at 11:36 am
### ODT Online Sun, 7 Aug 2011 Sammy’s set to reopen this month
By Nigel Benson
Sammy’s will reopen this month after being closed in June for refurbishment. Owner Sam Chin shut the venue after the building fell into disrepair. He said yesterday demand had led to him taking bookings again. […] “We had a lot of inquiries about when we were going to reopen. It’s such a good space with plenty of room for 500-plus people. We’ve already got three or four university graduation dinners booked in over the next couple of weeks.” Read more
An institution. Great precinct and location for accommodation, what happened.
Enhance building performance, perfect for retrofitting and adaptive reuse.
### dunedintv.co.nz February 19, 2015 – 5:42pm Law Courts Hotel in liquidation
The Law Courts Hotel in central Dunedin has been placed in liquidation. The hotel’s situated in lower Stuart Street, beside the Dunedin Courthouse. It’s been placed in the hands of liquidators by the High Court. Creditors owed money by the company have until the end of March to file claims. The sole director of the Law Courts Hotel is Mornington resident Leslie Scott. A financial report on the state of the business has yet to be made public. It was formally placed in liquidation last week. Ch39 Link [no video available]
█ Wikipedia: Law Courts Hotel [edited]
‘One of the city’s most historic public houses and hostelries, the Law Courts Hotel, is located close to the Dunedin Law Courts (the courthouse) in Lower Stuart Street, in a large corner building with an Art Deco style facade (not the original frontage), directly opposite the Allied Press Building (the offices of the city’s main newspaper, the Otago Daily Times). Listed by Heritage New Zealand as a Category II historic place (List No: 2189). The prime location of this hotel near these two premises has greatly contributed to its history, as has its longevity (having originally been founded as the Auld Scotland Hotel in 1863).’ Link
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
*Image: wikimedia.org – ‘deco-tweaked’ by whatifdunedin
Updated post Thu, 23 Jan 2014 at 5:28 p.m.
Public Memorial Service (1 February) details below.
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█ Sir Ian Charles Athfield KNZM (15 July 1940 – 16 January 2015) was a New Zealand architect. He was born in Christchurch and graduated from the University of Auckland in 1963 with a Diploma of Architecture. That same year he joined Structon Group Architects, and he became a partner in 1965. In 1968 he was a principal partner in setting up Athfield Architects with Ian Dickson and Graeme John Boucher (Manson). Link to profile
Sir Ian had recently been made a knight companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to architecture. Photo: NZ Herald
### stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:51, January 16 2015
The Dominion Post Renowned architect Sir Ian Athfield dies, aged 74
By Simon Bradwell and Tom Hunt
Renowned Wellington-based architect Sir Ian Athfield has died. He was 74.
Athfield Architects associate Rachel Griffiths said Sir Ian died in Wellington Hospital early this morning surrounded by family. His death was the result of “unexpected complications” during a procedure to treat his colon cancer.
“Ath had been dealing with cancer for some time with his usual stoicism and inappropriate humour,” Griffiths said. “There is … no-one else like Ath and we are devastated by his passing.” The Athfield family had asked for time to deal with their grief, she said. No date had been set for the funeral or memorial service at this stage.
A statement released this morning by the New Zealand Institute of Architects announced his death. “It is with great sadness that we inform Members that Sir Ian Athfield, one of New Zealand’s finest architects, has passed away in Wellington,” it said. “Our deepest condolences go out to Ath’s family, friends and colleagues. There are few details to share at this stage, but we will notify members of any funeral or memorial service arrangements as soon as they arise.”
Athfield, who was knighted in the most recent New Year Honours for his work in architecture, won more than 60 awards for his work. In a professional career spanning half a century, his stamp was imprinted across Wellington, and with Roger Walker, he was probably New Zealand’s leading exponent of modernist architecture. His most well-known works included the City Library and its nikau palm columns, built as part of the Civic Square redevelopment in the 1980s, and his own sprawling Khandallah house. He also designed Jade Stadium in Christchurch, which was damaged in the February 2011 earthquake.
Walker said he was “still in shock” on getting the news of Athfield’s death. Read more
Sir Ian Athfield – Public Memorial Service
The New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) have organised a public memorial service to celebrate the life and work of Sir Ian Athfield, to be held at 3pm, Sunday 1 February, in Civic Square, Wellington.
Details of the service are yet to be finalised, but it is envisaged that it will include eulogies from people who knew Ath well. The service will very much be a memorial to Ath the Architect, and many Members will wish to attend. https://www.nzia.co.nz/
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archivesnz Published on May 5, 2013
Architect Athfield (1979)
New Zealand National Film Unit presents Architect Athfield (1979)
‘Architect Athfield’ examines the frustrations and achievements of one of New Zealand’s most lively and innovative architects. In 1975 Ian Athfield won an international competition directed towards providing housing for 140,000 squatters from the Tondo area in Manila. Ironically, Athfield had jumped to international prominence before any wide-ranging acceptance in his own country. This film examines Athfield’s practical philosophy of architecture, and culminates in his trip to the Philippines, where he hopes to make his prize-winning design a reality.
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wclchannel Uploaded on Nov 30, 2011 Ian Athfield – Central Library architect
### rnz.co.nz Sunday 11 August 2013
Arts on Sunday
1:43 New Arts Icon Ian Athfield
Ian Athfield on his new honour and he talks about this weekend’s forum on how architects and designers can help out following natural disasters. AudioOggMP3 (6′59″)
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### ODT Online Sat, 27 Apr 2013 ‘Look at heritage differently,’ Athfield says
By John Gibb
Leading New Zealand architect Ian Athfield yesterday praised Dunedin’s wealth of heritage buildings but urged a rethink of aspects of the city’s one-way-street system. Mr Athfield, of Wellington, was in the city yesterday to give the annual New Zealand Historic Places Trust R.A. Lawson Lecture, as part of the Dunedin Heritage Festival. Addressing about 200 people at the University of Otago’s St David lecture theatre, he said “we have to look at heritage differently”. One-way street systems, in Dunedin and elsewhere, could sometimes separate important heritage buildings from their communities, and could make it difficult for people to approach such buildings on foot because of traffic volumes. Mr Athfield […] urged people to take a more flexible and holistic approach to heritage, treasuring the wider context of historic buildings, including their landscape settings, rather than seeing them only in isolation. Read more
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Photo: City Gallery Wellington
Aalto Books profiles Portrait of a House by Simon Devitt
Published by Balasoglou Books May 2013
Only 1,000 copies printed with 100 special edition copies that include one of five photographic prints. At 140 pages, a true collector’s item for those interested in New Zealand history, architecture, design and photography. Portrait of a House is a photo book by photographer Simon Devitt in collaboration with graphic designer Arch MacDonnell (Inhouse Design). This is Devitt’s first foray in the photo book genre. His book explores the Athfield House – the ‘village on the hill’ – an architectural experiment that Ian Athfield started in 1965 on the Khandallah hillside in Wellington, and which he is still altering and extending today.
The house is renowned in bohemian and academic circles for its many colourful dinner parties and occasions, and is infamous with neighbours past and present for the antics of its free-range livestock and frequent run-ins with Council. Roosters have been shot, construction shut down and architectural pilgrimages made.
This is an extraordinary story told through Devitt’s sensitive eye, blended with historic photographs, paintings and drawings from the Athfield archive. Clare Athfield’s contribution of her own recipes (dating from the 1960s until now) complements a selection of personal letters by family, friends, colleagues and clients which are insightful and often very funny – memories that make Simon’s photographs all the more potent in their beauty and silence.
The idea for the book came from Devitt’s admiration of Robin Morrison’s work and in particular Morrison’s 1978 photo book Images of a House about a William Gummer-designed house built in 1916. “A house is a pretty refined subject to make a book about,” explains Devitt. “It is not market driven, it is content driven and born out of passion. Life has happened there like in no other house, and the ‘living’ leaves its evidence, time has played out on its surface. There is a lot to be said about sitting still and how that looks. The Athfield house is a wonderful example of this. An accessible counterpoint to a largely asset based living that pervades New Zealand.”
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### radionz.co.nz 3 March 2013
Radio New Zealand National
Sunday Morning with Chris Laidlaw
Listen on 101 FM or online at radionz.co.nz
10:06 Ideas: Re-imagining the Urban House
Arguments for intensifying the density of housing tend to fall into two categories: Affordability and putting a halt to urban sprawl.
Ideas talks to two architects who advocate higher density housing not just for those reasons but because they believe, if done right, it will result in more liveable houses and communities.
Robert Dalziel, the co-author of A House in the City: Home Truths in Urban Architecture, has travelled the world looking at traditional models of high density housing and come to some interesting conclusions; and Ian Athfield, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated architects, talks about the lessons he’s learnt from building his own house which now combines living quarters for 25 people with office space for another 40. AudioOgg VorbisMP3 (49′59″)
“Get rid of those traffic engineers, which is another bloody thing, y’know, they’re singularly minded, quite stupid, y’know, they don’t think of anything else other than how long it takes to move a car from one space to another – that can’t happen in our cities in future.”
“The word “urban design” is now an abused profession – just like planning was in the sixties, y’know, and I said in the sixties if we knew as much about planning as we thought we knew about apartheid, we’d be demonstrating against planning, before we demonstrated against apartheid, because it is really really important. We had zoning at the time, absolutely ridiculous…”
Athfield House, Wellington. Photo: Grant Sheehan
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### stuff.co.nz Last updated 07:46 23/03/2011 Architect Athfield not softening
Source: The Press
Architect Ian Athfield is refusing to back down from his ultimatum about Christchurch’s development. Today he defended his comments, saying it was “absolutely the best time ever” to have the debate about how the city would look in the future. He was backed by former Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore who said the city now had a “clean slate” that presented opportunities like never before. NZPA Read more + Comments
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### radionz.co.nz Monday, 07 March 2011 at 8:22
Morning Report with Geoff Robinson & Simon Mercep Architectural ambassador joins rebuild debate
The rebuilding of Christchurch is clearly an emotive issue. Wellington architect Ian Athfield and Christchurch planning and resource management consultant Dean Crystal join us to discuss the rebuild debate. AudioOgg VorbisMP3 (6′22″)
The applicant (LUC-2014-579) wanting to remove a Significant Tree is none other than Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board member Martin Dillon.
His profile at the DCC website:
Significant Tree – 23 Church Street, Mosgiel – LUC-2014-579
Closes: 16/01/2015
Notification of Application for a Resource Consent – Under Section 93(2) of the Resource Management Act 1991.
The Dunedin City Council has received the following application for Resource Consent:
Application description
To remove a tree that is listed in the Dunedin City District Plan under Schedule 25.5 as T068 (English elm).
Related documents
█ LUC-2014-579 Public Notice (PDF, 33.8 KB)
This document is the Public Notice for Resource Consent application LUC-2014-579
█ LUC-2014-579 Submission form (PDF, 92.4 KB)
This document can be used to make a submission regarding Resource Consent application LUC-2014-579
█ LUC-2014-579 Application (PDF, 1.8 MB)
This document is a scanned copy of the application for resource consent LUC-2014-579
Notified resource consent details
Closing date
16/01/2015
Consent number
Significant tree – 23 Church Street, Mosgiel – LUC-2014-579
Name of applicant
M L & M C Dillon [Martin Dillon]
Location of site
23 Church Street, Mosgiel, being that land legally described as Lot 1 Deposited Plan 9558, held in Computer Freehold Register OT412/28
Address for service
M L & M C Dillon, 23 Church Street, Mosgiel 9024.
IMPORTANT: If you wish to make a submission on this application you may do so by sending a written submission to the consent authority, Dunedin City Council at PO Box 5045, Moray Place, Dunedin, 9058 Attn: City Planning, no later than 5:00 pm on the closing date shown.
The submission must be dated, signed by you, and include the following information:
1. Your name and postal address and phone number/fax number;
2. Details of the application in respect of which you are making the submission including location;
3. Whether you support, oppose, or are neutral towards the application;
4. Your submission, with reasons;
5. The decision you wish the consent authority to make;
6. Whether you wish to be heard in support of your submission.
Please note: If you make your submission by electronic means, a signature is not required.
An acknowledgment of your submission will be sent by post when the submission is accepted as complete. The application may be viewed at the City Planning Enquiries Desk, Customer Service Centre on the Ground Floor, Civic Centre, 50 The Octagon.
A copy of your submission must also be served as soon as reasonably practicable on the applicant at the address for service detailed on the public notices, available above.
OH GOD, BUT IS IT GREEN
Do we really need a (hopeless) arts strategy when we’re TOO BUSY bankrolling Professional Rugby and committing Assault at Stadium ???
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Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Making Creativity a Top Priority
This item was published on 19 Jun 2014
Arts and culture should be at the core of our city, according to Toi Ao – Our Creative Future, the draft Ōtepoti Dunedin Arts and Culture Strategy.
Dunedin City Councillor Aaron Hawkins who has been closely involved with the preparation of the draft Strategy, says, “This is a great opportunity for the city to acknowledge the importance art and culture to our community’s quality of life. Having watched this strategy develop, I’m excited about it being at the stage where we can soon share it with Dunedin people, and see how it fits with their ambitions and aspirations. Dunedin has a rich tradition of developing, and attracting, world class talent. What we don’t always to so well is celebrate our successes. We need to look at how we can encourage excellence, and at the same time weave creative expression into the fabric of our public spaces and everyday lives.”
The draft Strategy has been developed in partnership with arts and culture collective Transforming Dunedin. The Strategy draws on the results of previous community consultation, including the Transforming Dunedin Symposium and follow-on work, DCC consultation on strategic priorities for the city and a review of other arts and culture strategies in New Zealand and overseas.
The Strategy’s purpose is to set the direction when it comes to future support for arts and culture in Dunedin. It aims to position Dunedin as one of the world’s finest creative small cities. The intention is to move to a place where arts, culture and creativity are fully integrated into the city’s brand and identity and recognised as critical to Dunedin’s success.
There are a wide range of goals, which include bringing a creative perspective to city decision-making, creating new ways for people to participate in arts and culture, and ensuring Dunedin people can experience the best of local, national and international arts and culture.
DCC Group Manager Arts and Culture Bernie Hawke describes the development of the draft Arts and Culture Strategy as “a significant milestone in developing a framework for supporting and fostering arts and culture across the city. “The forthcoming community consultation on the draft Strategy will be important to ensure that the Strategy represents the priorities and directions of the community.”
█ The draft Strategy will be discussed by the Council at its meeting on Monday, 23 June. Subject to approval by the Council, the draft Strategy is expected to be released for widespread public consultation in late July/August.
Contact Group Manager Arts and Culture on 03 477 4000. DCC Link
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### dunedintv.co.nz June 19, 2014 – 6:03pm New arts and culture strategy developed
The Dunedin City Council has developed a new arts and culture strategy. It sets the direction for investment and support of creative activities and events in the city. And on Monday, the document will be tabled for discussion by councillors, before going out to public consultation. Video
Notification of Application for a Resource Consent – Under Section 93(2) of the Resource Management Act 1991.
The Dunedin City Council has received the following application for Resource Consent:
Application description
Resource consent is sought to remove a significant tree at 28A Heriot Row, Dunedin. The tree is a Maple Tree (genus Acer) and is recorded as T578 in Schedule 25.3 of the Dunedin City District Plan. The tree is located in the front yard of the subject site.
The site is legally described as Part Section 30 Block XXIV Town of Dunedin, held in Computer Freehold Register OT96/150, and has an approximate area of 463m2. The site is located within the Royal Terrace/Pitt Street/Heriot Row Heritage Precinct (TH08).
Applicant: John and Evellen Jackson of Drysdale Ltd – 142 Stafford Drive, Ruby Bay, Mapua 7005
Light green circle indicates trunk position of Maple tree at 28A Sketch concept for site development supplied by applicant
DCC Webmap showing proximity of Ritchie House, 26 Heriot Row
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The applicant only seeks removal of the listed tree; a second resource consent application would be required to develop the subject site, since it is located in the heritage precinct.
SUBDIVISION HELL AT HERIOT ROW
The subject site is part of the former garden allotment, with original brick garage, of the Heritage New Zealand listed Category 1 Historic Place, the Ritchie House at 26 Heriot Row. This large, outstanding Arts and Crafts house and the brick garage were designed by renowned Dunedin architect Basil Hooper.
The applicant bought the property knowing the Significant Tree (Maple) was listed for protection in the district plan. The tree does not preclude development of the site; and note there is a covenant in place.
Independent consulting advice from an arborist, a landscape architect, and a design architect, to the Hearing Committee should be mandatory for consideration of the application. An opinion should also be sought from Heritage New Zealand (heritage precinct).
Dunedin Heritage Fund
(administered by Heritage New Zealand and the Dunedin City Council)
2004. The owners of Ritchie House received a $20,000 loan to assist with a range of restoration works.
Seen from 28 Heriot Row – 28A garden with Maple tree, and 26 Ritchie House
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) – and now trading as Heritage New Zealand – is New Zealand’s leading national historic heritage agency and guardian of Aotearoa New Zealand’s national heritage. The environment in which NZHPT operates continues to be characterised by a growing interest in heritage, recognition of its social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits, and awareness of its importance to national identity.
The NZHPT was established by an Act of Parliament in 1954. The NZHPT is established as an autonomous Crown Entity under the Crown Entities Act 2004, and is supported by the Government and funded via Vote Arts, Culture and Heritage through the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Its work, powers and functions are prescribed by the Historic Places Act 1993.
█ Heritage New Zealand – a change of name
In 2010, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage led a review of the Historic Places Act 1993 (HPA) and as a result of that work the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Bill was drafted and is currently before the House. It is currently awaiting the committee stage, and its third reading. The Bill includes provisions that will result in some changes to how the NZHPT operates, and to archaeological provisions of the HPA. It also proposes a change in name to Heritage New Zealand. The Bill will complete NZHPT’s transition from NGO to Crown Entity. To facilitate the transition, the decision was made to proceed with the name change ahead of the legislation. From 14 April 2014, the organisation has been known as Heritage New Zealand.
HeritageNewZealand 13 Apr 2014
Welcome to Heritage New Zealand
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) has changed its name to Heritage New Zealand. Chief Executive Bruce Chapman explains the reasons behind the change.
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Heritage New Zealand will continue to work in partnership with others, including iwi and hapū Māori, local and central government agencies, heritage NGOs, property owners, and volunteers. We will continue to provide advice to both central and local government, and property owners on the conservation of New Zealand’s most significant heritage sites. We will continue to maintain the national Register of historic places, manage 48 nationally significant heritage properties, regulate the modification of archaeological sites, and manage the national heritage preservation incentive fund.
While Heritage New Zealand receives 80% of its funding from the Crown, like many other Crown agencies it continues to be dependent for the remainder of funding from supporters, donations, grants, bequests, and through revenue generated at the heritage properties it cares for around the country.
Three key things remain the same under the new name:
● commitment to the long-term conservation of New Zealand’s most significant heritage places, including own role as custodian of 48 historic properties
● connection through members (membership benefits are unchanged) and supporters to the wider community
● continued status as a donee organisation, dependent on the goodwill and ongoing financial and volunteer support of the wider community for many of the outcomes the organisation achieves for heritage.
Dunedin, March 2010. Benchill (Wikimedia Commons).
### ODT Online Fri, 3 Jan 2014 Streetlight ideas from US trip
By Debbie Porteous
Seeing the bright lights of some major American cities has given the man responsible for a street lighting revolution set for Dunedin some solid ideas. Dunedin city council roading maintenance engineer Peter Standring went to the United States last year to look at different technologies and visit cities that have started updating their street lighting. Read more
Puzzled. The news story says Peter Standring went to USA.
But lower down, it says (our emphasis):
“Los Angeles was in many ways the world leader in the procurement, installation and development of LED technology, and the group was “very lucky” to have had one and a-half hours of Mr Ebrahimian’s time, Mr Standring said.”
What group? A DCC group? (or a USA group he tagged along with?) What have we paid for? A 2013 trip for one person to Los Angeles, Durham, Racine, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco —or a trip for a group of staff and their wives?
Clarification, please.
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[via Upstart Incubator (@UpstartDunedin) who tweeted at 9:29 AM on Tue, Dec 31, 2013]
### mckinsey.com September 2013 How to make a city great
By 2030, 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. That could mean great things for economic growth — if the cities handle their expansion wisely. Here’s how.
What makes a great city? It is a pressing question because by 2030, 5 billion people — 60 percent of the world’s population — will live in cities, compared with 3.6 billion today, turbocharging the world’s economic growth. Leaders in developing nations must cope with urbanisation on an unprecedented scale, while those in developed ones wrestle with aging infrastructures and stretched budgets. All are fighting to secure or maintain the competitiveness of their cities and the livelihoods of the people who live in them. And all are aware of the environmental legacy they will leave if they fail to find more sustainable, resource-efficient ways of managing these cities.
Explore six diverse initiatives aimed at making cities great places to live and work.
To understand the core processes and benchmarks that can transform cities into superior places to live and work, McKinsey developed and analysed a comprehensive database of urban economic, social, and environmental performance indicators. The research included interviewing 30 mayors and other leaders in city governments on four continents and synthesizing the findings from more than 80 case studies that sought to understand what city leaders did to improve processes and services from urban planning to financial management and social housing.
The result is How to make a city great (PDF, 2.1MB), a new report arguing that leaders who make important strides in improving their cities do three things really well:
█ They achieve smart growth. Smart growth identifies and nurtures the very best opportunities for growth, plans ways to cope with its demands, integrates environmental thinking, and ensures that all citizens enjoy a city’s prosperity. Good city leaders also think about regional growth because as a metropolis expands, they will need the cooperation of surrounding municipalities and regional service providers. Integrating the environment into economic decision making is vital to smart growth: cities must invest in infrastructure that reduces emissions, waste production, and water use, as well as in building high-density communities.
█ They do more with less. Great cities secure all revenues due, explore investment partnerships, embrace technology, make organisational changes that eliminate overlapping roles, and manage expenses. Successful city leaders have also learned that, if designed and executed well, private–public partnerships can be an essential element of smart growth, delivering lower-cost, higher-quality infrastructure and services.
█ They win support for change. Change is not easy, and its momentum can even attract opposition. Successful city leaders build a high-performing team of civil servants, create a working environment where all employees are accountable for their actions, and take every opportunity to forge a stakeholder consensus with the local population and business community. They take steps to recruit and retain top talent, emphasise collaboration, and train civil servants in the use of technology.
Mayors are only too aware that their tenure will be limited. But if longer-term plans are articulated — and gain popular support because of short-term successes — leaders can start a virtuous cycle that sustains and encourages a great urban environment. Link to source
*Image: commons.wikimedia.org – Central city view of Dunedin, New Zealand, at night from Signal Hill lookout. The dark horizontal band above the centre of the photo is the Town Belt. Some landmarks including First Church of Otago and the Dunedin Railway Station are visible near the centre. Photo by Benchill, 9 March 2010.
### 3news.co.nz Fri, 26 Jul 2013 2:53p.m. Giant blue rooster ruffles London feathers
By Jill Lawless
This might ruffle a few feathers. A giant blue rooster has been unveiled next to the sombre military monuments in London’s Trafalgar Square. German artist Katharina Fritsch’s 4.7 metre ultramarine bird, titled ‘Hahn/Cock’, is intended as a playful counterpoint to the statues of martial heroes in the square. Both ultramarine blue and the rooster are symbols of France, whose defeat by Britain at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 gave the square its name.
“It’s a nice humorous side-effect to have something French in a place that celebrates victory over Napoleon,” Fritsch told The Guardian newspaper. Fritsch also said she hoped the double meaning in the work’s name would appeal to the British sense of humour. “I know they like to play games with language,” she said.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said it would be a “talking point for Londoners and tourists alike.” It is the latest in a series of artworks to adorn the square’s vacant “Fourth Plinth”.
One of London’s main tourist attractions, the square was named for Horatio Nelson’s victory over the French and Spanish fleets. A statue of the one-armed admiral stands atop Nelson’s Column at the centre of the square, and statues of other 19th-century military leaders are nearby.
The fourth plinth was erected in 1841 for an equestrian statue that was never completed. It remained empty for a century and a half, and since 1999 has been occupied by artworks erected for 18 months at a time. Previous works have included a giant ship in a bottle and 2,400 members of the public who stood atop the plinth for an hour at a time. AP 3News Link
BACKWARD STEP: Our environment is at risk if the Resource Management act is watered down.
### stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00 21/07/2013 Gutting the RMA – it’s time to be concerned
By Anton Oliver
Source: Sunday Star-Times
OPINION | The Resource Management Act (RMA) has sadly become a much maligned and misunderstood piece of legislation: a kind of universal public punching bag – if mentioned in conversation, it is almost obligatory to put the slipper in. To most Kiwis it represents bureaucracy and inefficiency – pen-pushing do-gooders and paper shufflers who engage us in excessively long and costly processes that get in the way of us Kiwis doing stuff.
In fact the RMA – passed in 1991 – was a means of rectifying mistakes and providing at least some environmental and social integrity to development and planning process. It was recognised by legal minds to be a world-leading piece of legislation. It protected our environment and our economy based on the premise of sustainable resource management. What’s more, it was politically robust in that it received the blessing of both major parties.
It also gave New Zealanders a chance to be heard and it facilitated local decisions made by local people. While the country’s environmental indicators such as water quality and biodiversity loss have still gone backwards – the RMA has stemmed what would otherwise have been fatal haemorrhaging.
Similarly, the RMA has protected a set of fundamental Kiwi values: the notion of fairness and equity in regard to everyone having a right to their say; industry and other activities being required to take responsibility for avoiding, remedying or mitigating adverse environmental impacts; and developments being required to have regard to effects on such things as recreation, scenic values, private property rights, and the public’s access to rivers, lakes and beaches.
That’s all about to change.
The Government plans to alter the Act to give greater weight to economic development over environmental considerations, granting to itself the right to veto any issue. You don’t have to be legal-minded to see the impact of subtle word changes. While the consideration for the “benefits” of a project remains, gone are any references to the “costs”, making a cost-benefit analysis redundant because environmental “cost” is out of the equation.
Gone, too, are the words: “maintenance and enhancement of amenity values”. That’s basically any recreational activity – walking, running, swimming, fishing, kayaking. Who likes doing that stuff anyway? Thankfully the “importance and value of historic heritage” stays. But its cobber, “protection from inappropriate subdivision and development” gets the boot – making the first clause meaningless. And my personal favourite, “maintenance and enhancement of the quality of the environment” has been politely asked to leave. Clearly such an unruly clause has no place in a legal act that’s trying to protect the environment.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright, has a different interpretation. She thinks the changes “muddy the overwhelming focus of the RMA, to protect the environment, and risk turning it into an Economic Development Act”. Similarly alarmed, the architect of the RMA, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, concludes: “The [proposed changes] will significantly and seriously weaken the ability of the RMA to protect the natural environment and its recreational enjoyment by all New Zealanders.”
The changes also grant considerable new powers to central government, giving it the ability to take individual consent decisions away from local councils and place them in a new national body. The changes go further still, by allowing government the right to insert provisions in local council plans without any consultation. Read more
● Former All Black Anton Oliver is an ambassador for Water Conservation Order NZ.
This week we look at the road widening project and the proposed changes that the City Council has made to the initial plan. The City Council will be giving the community another opportunity to have your say on the proposal and the changes they have made to the plan since the consultation period in March 2013. This is an important issue for our township and community and the meeting is to be held at 7:00 pm on Monday, 13 May 2013 at the Coronation Hall. Pass this message onto your friends, neighbours, colleagues and whanau.
Regards
Paul Pope – Chairman, Portobello Incorporated
● The meeting will be attended by council staff, Cr Jinty MacTavish, and Otago Peninsula Community Board members.
New Zealand Historic Places Trust RA Lawson Lecture
Ian Athfield — “Heritage Starts with a Great Idea Tomorrow”
Thoughts on community and heritage
New Zealand Historic Places Trust and New Zealand Institute of Architects – Southern Branch are co-sponsoring the public talk by one of New Zealand’s most well-known architects, Ian Athfield
Panel on stage – Lawrie Forbes (property developer), Glen Hazelton (DCC urban design), Elizabeth Kerr (architecture advocate), Stephen Macknight (structural engineer)
When: Friday 26 April 2013 at 7:30 pm
Where: University of Otago, St David Lecture Theatre
Union Street East, Dunedin
All welcome
****
Ian Athfield is a prominent New Zealand architect who over his 40+ year career has contributed significantly to the built environment of New Zealand. He has a strong interest in urban design, landscape and the continuing craft of architecture with an emphasis on building off the existing physical environment.
While first establishing a reputation through innovative housing, Athfield is renowned for his big picture thinking in both urban and rural environments. He has been involved in the creation of many of New Zealand’s most successful urban spaces, landscapes, and buildings. His work continues to stretch across all scales from furniture and public sculpture to architecture, landscape, and urban design; and across type from domestic to civic.
Athfield’s contribution to architecture has received widespread recognition and not only earned his practice numerous design awards but earned him the 2004 NZIA Gold Medal, an honorary Doctorate in Literature from Victoria University and in 1996 the New Zealand Government made him a Companion to the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Ian Athfield is currently serving on the Board of The New Zealand Historic Places Trust, and as a member of the NZHPT Maori Heritage Council.
“The entire complex is now known as the Dunedin Centre.”
● Dunedin Town Hall will always be known as Dunedin Town Hall, not a flower by another name !!!!
● Godsakes, ditch DVML as the venue operator !!!!
● UPDATE 24.4.13 – Major stuff up. DVML mismanages Town Hall seating plan for Anzac Day Revue. Those with prebooked seats will be treated as general admission. ODT
The doors don’t open to the public until Thursday, but the redeveloped Dunedin Centre has already got bookings through until May 2015.
Some large events are already booked, including national and international conferences such as the Ingenium Conference and the 5th Global Botanic Gardens Congress. There are also concert bookings by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music New Zealand and the Southern Sinfonia, as well as bookings for school formals, graduations, weddings and private functions.
Invited guests will join Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull in a low-key civic ceremony on Wednesday morning to celebrate the Dunedin Centre’s new lease of life. The first performance will be the Dunedin RSA Choir performance in the Town Hall on Anzac Day.
Mr Cull says, “The Dunedin Centre complex is very much an events centrepiece for our city and it’s great to see there are a number of bookings already.”
About $45 million has been spent over several years upgrading and renovating the existing Dunedin Centre/Town Hall and Municipal Chambers (work on the latter was completed in August 2011). The entire complex is now known as the Dunedin Centre.
Key elements of the overall upgrade include linkages between all buildings to enable people to move easily within what is now an integrated convention centre. There will be lift access to all Dunedin Centre and Town Hall floors, including the Town Hall ceiling, as well as major technology upgrades, new kitchen facilities, new conference/function spaces and new toilets. Another key feature of the redevelopment is a raft of sophisticated behind-the-scenes improvements, which mean the buildings now meet regulations in areas such as fire protection, health and safety, ventilation and access. Read more
New Zealand Historic Places Trust and New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering public talk
Professor Claudio Modena — “Retrofit of stone masonry buildings”
Italian research and practice
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) and the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE) present a public talk by Italian earthquake engineering academic and consultant, Professor Claudio Modena.
When: Wednesday 1 May 2013 at 5:30 pm
Where: University of Otago, Quad 2 Lecture Theatre
1st floor Geology Building, Dunedin
All welcome
****
Claudio Modena is a Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Padova, Italy (1994–). He has presented the course of “Structural Problems of Monumental Historical Heritage” in Architectural and Building Engineering and is Director of the Masters course in ‘Structural Restoration of Historic Monuments and Buildings’.
Author of over 200 papers in international journals and attendances at conferences, Claudio Modena is interested in analysis and design of construction, with particular attention on:
– masonry of historical and monumental structures
– strengthening/retrofitting in seismic areas
– retrofitting of metal and masonry arch bridges, and
– safety evaluations.
The professor has maintained a balance between academic and practical experience, combining with mutual benefit both research work and technical consulting. Most of his consulting activity is in the field of restoration and conservation of historic masonry structures.
Claudio Modena is a member of several technical and scientific committees: Cultural Heritage Ministry, Protection of Cultural Heritage from Seismic Hazard Committee. He is currently a member of the High Risks Committee – Seismic Risk Sector of the national Civil Protection Agency and of the special committee established by the Ministry of Infrastructures and Public Works for re-drafting the national codes system related to structural safety of both new and existing structures.
Visit this website for more information about the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering Incwww.nzsee.org.nz
Wharf Street Hotel: time for some answers
By Grahame Sydney
With the DCC’s Resource Consent panel now sitting on its evidence, the full Council prevented from commenting on the proposal, and Dunedin ironically about to indulge in a celebration of its invaluable built heritage, isn’t it time a few things were clarified for the Dunedin public ? Time for a few truths to be told, instead of the shamefully dishonest propaganda from the promoters of the Wharf Street Hotel ?
Let’s start with the promotional video released on May 11, 2012 and voiced on behalf of his clients by Steve Rodgers of “Betterways Advisory”.
This sophisticated promo is a must-watch for all Dunedin residents, because within its 3 minute 49 second running time they will discover a Dunedin totally unlike the one they know: this is a fantasy Dunedin, whose tranquil waterfront bears no resemblance whatever to the facts. It is neat and orderly, blessed with open park spaces, and tied to its wharfs are luxury yachts and container ships. Rows of new, unrecognisable buildings have miraculously appeared behind every view of the towering glass monolith, and as the CGI camera sweeps across this fictional CBD towards the Stadium (curiously glimpsed only from overhead) and down its oddly-scaled roadways citizens will puzzle to identify any of the many buildings occupying the land in the vicinity of the Railway Station.
Perhaps the developers have bolder plans than a single hotel ? Certainly the Dunedin presented in this video sales pitch is not today’s city. It’s a scrubbed up, redesigned, blatantly re-scaled quasi-Auckland Viaduct vision in which the hideous proportions of the hotel appear more comfortable and the truth is deliberately ignored.
As you watch, hit the Pause button at 33 seconds, at 53, at 1.14, at 1.21, at 1.39, at 2.22….. what ARE those buildings ? Where did they come from ? Have I been asleep these last decades ? Am I in the right city here ? Would someone please be honest here ?
Having extolled the virtues of the city’s marvellous heritage buildings, and noting that they are one of the major reasons why “tourists love this city”, Mr Rodgers proceeds to extol the virtues of “my clients’ grand design”, which so brutally desecrates that heritage.
Who are these visionary clients, so hellbent on bestowing gifts ? We are slowly learning: the “Otago Businesswoman” behind the proposal is an ex-accountant locally, now consultant and wine promoter living in Queenstown. Ms Song has the good fortune to be married to Ping Cao, reportedly “one of China’s top construction company owners”. That marriage, incidentally, took place in another New Zealand city with which she reported fell instantly in love: Nelson. No “gifts” for Nelson, however. How fickle is love.
Being pushed forward now as the public face of the project, Ms Song’s repeated professions of love for Dunedin are no substitute for expertise, or indeed sensitivity. It is evident she and her entrepreneur husband belong to the camp which believes Dunedin’s Victorian and Edwardian built heritage has less appeal than the monstrously ugly Dunedin Stadium, and that they anticipate a brighter future for the city when more of the same charmless, cheap, dated design has overwhelmed the city’s essential historic character.
Far too many unanswered questions remain, and honest answers would be enlightening. Continue reading →
Something that seems to have slipped the radar in Dunedin news of late is the WIDENING of Portobello Harington Point Road on the Otago Peninsula.
Looking at the Draft Annual Plan, the City Council intends to spend the following on what amounts to an environmental and heritage damaging folly. That’s only 33-34 % of the budget, given NZTA will subsidise the remaining 66-67% of the project.
The road widening (including the Vauxhall and Macandrew Bay areas already completed) will reclaim nearly 11 hectares of the Otago Harbour — a conservative measurement given plans show significantly more reclamation if the topography requires it.
Consultation on the current design closed yesterday, Thursday 28 March, indicating approval of the plan is a given despite the consultation process for the Annual Plan this year and in years to come.
[29.3.13 – The plans are not available for viewing online, why not?]
There will be irrevocable damage to the Peninsula and Harbour landscape, heritage features and the ecology if this misguided piece of engineering continues.
It is feared the Council has the bit between its teeth on this project — described as being about “liveability”, according to Mayor Cull at the Portobello Annual Plan ‘roadshow’.
It might be worth pointing out to your readers that they look closely at the Draft Annual Plan in regards to this area of Council expenditure.
Searching Council for cost benefit and recreational analyses fails to show much other than what is in the June 2008 Cycle Strategy (PDF, 787 KB).
Few will have problems with the desirability of access, but the lack of design sensitivity and impact on the values of the area seem inconsistent with the value of the Peninsula and Harbour to the community and our economy.
This is certainly an issue worth looking at more deeply.
—– Original Message —– From: Jocelyn Harris To: Ann Barsby ; Elizabeth Kerr ; Judith Medlicott Sent: Friday, March 15, 2013 9:56 AM Subject: RMA Bill
Dear Ann, Elizabeth and Judith
The proposed revisions to the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) allow for the setting up of a central commission to over-ride environment court and local council decisions. That includes decisions about heritage.
On Thursday 21 March 2013 at 7pm in the Burns Hall, a quickly assembled group of people will hold a public meeting to discuss our concerns and encourage submissions on the revised RMA and reforms to water management.
As the submission date is 2 April that doesn’t give us much time.
I would be grateful if you could alert your networks to the provisions in the proposed Bill as they affect heritage.
Best wishes
Jocelyn
Professor emerita Jocelyn Harris
Co-chair, Sustainable Dunedin City Inc
Yeah, it’s great being out with the jokers
When the jokers are sparking and bright,
And its great giving cheek to the sheilas
Down the hall on a Saturday night …
Peter Cape, 1958
On a Saturday Night is a warm and colourful celebration of the strength and spirit of small towns all around New Zealand. From Whakapara in the north to Mossburn in the South, community halls have been the focal point of small towns for as long as the towns have been on the map.
These halls have hosted school classrooms, general elections, stag parties, birthday parties, film screenings, Rabbiters’ Balls, flag euchre evenings, farewells and welcome-home parties for servicemen from both world wars, memorial events for those who did not return, farm auctions, clearing sales, weddings, Christmas parties, Civil Defence teams, mayoral celebrations, church services …
Some halls have been demolished and rebuilt over the decades, other have been lovingly restored several times and are still going strong. Some halls have been transported on the backs of trucks to new locations as towns have grown and changed. Fires and floods have taken their toll in more than a few cases.
Michele Frey and Sara Newman visited these halls with photographers John Maillard (North Island) and John O’Malley (South Island) to talk to the locals and try to capture the essence of what each hall has meant – and means – to its community. In these stories and pictures they have recorded an aspect of New Zealand’s unique culture that seems to be passing into history.
—
Michele Frey is a Strategic Planner (Natural Environment and Recreation) for Opus International Consultants Ltd in Napier. She has always had a strong affinity with the notion of community, and seized eagerly upon the idea of producing a book on small-town halls, with the opportunity it offered to gain insights into the dynamics of small New Zealand communities. Along the way she developed some lifelong friendships. This is Michele’s third book for Canterbury University Press.
Sara Newman grew up in a small town and knew all about the importance of community halls. She has had articles published in magazines in New Zealand and abroad, including Takahe and New Zealand Memories. While a member of the South Island Writers’ Group she won the Ngaio Marsh Trophy for fiction in 2009. Her work is included in several anthologies and her family history Living Between the Lines has been read on National Radio. She loved visiting the halls and meeting the people involved with them.
21:18 On a Saturday Night
Sara Newman talks about a new book she has co-written with Michelle Frey about the community halls of small town New Zealand. (10′08″) Audio | Download: Ogg VorbisMP3 | Embed
### ODT Monday 19 March 2012 Precedents exist for rebuilding cathedral
By Peter Entwisle – Art Beat
OPINION Reactions to the damage to Christchurch’s Anglican cathedral say much about some individuals and potentially more about ourselves as a nation. It’s partly an arts issue but also more than that.
Built between 1864 and 1904 to the design of the British architect George Gilbert Scott – supervised and modified by New Zealand’s Benjamin Mountfort – it may not be the very finest Victorian church in the country. But it is still a notable artistic success.
Canterbury was a specifically Anglican settlement. The cathedral signifies that but because of its size and prominence now also represents the city and the province. In New Zealand only the First Church of Otago has a comparable symbolism. If the Christchurch cathedral is lost we’ll be down to only one in a nation unusually lacking in enduring, built, symbols. What would we do if the Treaty House burnt down?
The Christchurch cathedral had been earthquake-damaged before the shocks which started in September 2010. After the February 22, 2011, event Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee, no friend of heritage, included it on a short list of buildings which should be restored or rebuilt. An overseas donor stumped up $4 million. Further earthquakes did more damage.
The Anglican Bishop of Christchurch, Victoria Matthews, was ambivalent about the old building from the start. She wondered aloud if a new cathedral should be constructed somewhere else? Recently she announced the old building will be ‘deconstructed’ – she means ‘dismantled’ – to a height of 2-3 metres, and not rebuilt.
She said building a replica would face the Diocese with a $100 million shortfall while a new building incorporating some of the old would leave it up to $50 million out of pocket. Other people have different figures. The Mayor, Bob Parker, acknowledging the wider public interest, offered to take the building into public ownership to provide a broader funding base.
The Bishop refused, now insisting the site must remain in Anglican hands. She also declined to reveal the information on which her decision was based.
How do people handle these things elsewhere?
In England the 14th-century cathedral at Coventry was badly damaged by air raids on May 14, 1940. Later the ruins were stabilised and became part of a new complex designed by Sir Basil Spence and opened in 1962 to critical acclaim.
Coventry Cathedral
In Dresden in Germany the Baroque cathedral (1726-1743) was almost entirely destroyed in an Allied bombing attack on the February 14, 1945. Later a replica was built, incorporating a few surviving fragments and consecrated in 2005, also to great acclaim. (Images show the few original stones as darker, evocative amongst the lighter new.)
Incorporating a few surving fragments…Dresden’s Frauenkirche
These were responses to man-made disasters but what about earthquake-damaged buildings?
The Basilica of St Francis of Assisi in Italy was hurt by numerous earthquakes in the centuries after construction began in 1228. But never so badly as by two which struck on the September 26, 1997. Several people died in the second, members of a party inspecting the wreckage caused by the first. (This was memorably captured by Italian television and endlessly repeated.) The large complex was closed for two years, restored and strengthened. Now it hosts worshippers and visitors again.
Basilica of St Francis of Assisi
Similarly, the church of San Francisco in Santiago in Chile had been regularly quake damaged and restored since construction began on an elaborate replacement of an earlier church in 1558. But a particularly severe quake caused great destruction on March 3, 1985. It was restored again and now houses a museum as well as being a place of worship – and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Church of San Francisco in Santiago
What should happen in Christchurch? In each of the cases mentioned, the church, often with the help of a wider community, endeavoured to keep part of the old while restoring or building anew. Where destruction was most complete – Dresden – a faithful replica was built, incorporating the sadly few remnants, in what might be described as a typically Teutonic exercise of vigorous communal will.
We are not faced with anything so challenging. But obviously some of us are daunted or perhaps just unwilling.
The old false dichotomy of whether we should value people or buildings has been paraded again. It’s a fallacy because, if you care about people you should care for the things they care about – and they care a lot about buildings which are symbols. This is not ‘reverence for bricks and mortar’ but reverence for the things they mean.
Christchurch cathedral is not only a place of worship. It already was a symbol of Canterbury. Rebuilt, keeping and evoking as much of the old as possible, funded by and useful to the wider community, it would symbolise national endurance. “Look”, it would say, “We are human and vulnerable. But we recover and overcome adversity.”
What price do you put on that?
• Peter Entwisle is a Dunedin curator, historian and writer.
The article was published in the Otago Daily Times on 19 March 2012.
Dunedin City Council hosted a public lecture by Dr John Montgomery at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery last Friday (16 September).
Dr Montgomery provided a presentation [PDF, 5.94 MB] on the economy, culture and design of cities, building on his work in the UK and Australia. His views are particularly relevant for the development of Dunedin’s Central City Plan and Economic Development strategies.
John Montgomery is an urban planner, economist, author and managing director of Urban Cultures Ltd.
Urban Cultures consults in urban economics, city planning, urban design, arts-led urban revitalisation and managing the night-time city.
Dunedin City Council undertook a city-wide consultation in June 2011 to identify priorities for future expenditure. The results from the consultation survey are available here: YCOF survey report July 2011
The information and feedback received from the consultation, along with the feedback from the YCOF leadership teams has been used in the development of the Council’s draft spatial plan, “Dunedin Towards 2050”, draft Central City Plan, and draft Economic Development Strategy.
Formal consultation on these documents is planned for October/November 2011.
Celebrating Gold – the Foundation of Dunedin’s Rich Heritage
150 years ago when Gabriel Read made the first major discovery of gold in Otago, at Gabriel’s Gully, he well and truly put Dunedin on the world map. Dunedin became the gateway to the goldfields, and the Otago Goldrush became the catalyst that laid the foundations of Dunedin’s rich heritage.
‘Layers of Gold’ celebrates not just the discovery of gold in 1861, but the rich layers of the city’s past that have been woven into the fabric that is our vibrant city today.
In 2011 the Bank of New Zealand, Allied Press, Cerebos Greggs, the Otago Chamber of Commerce, Galloway Cook Allan and the Dunedin Fire Brigade will all celebrate their 150th anniversaries.
Dunedin is a proud city of outstanding achievements and outstanding people. The ‘Layers of Gold’ celebrations, set against the backdrop of the city’s fine Victorian and Edwardian architecture, will be an opportunity to reflect on the past, enjoy and celebrate the present and look forward to the next ‘layer of gold’ the city’s future will undoubtedly unfold.
When: Otago Anniversary Weekend | 18-21 March 2011 Where: Dunedin, New Zealand UPDATED* Event Information:www.celebrategold.co.nz
Contact: Dunedin Heritage Festival
138 Lower Stuart Street
Dunedin
New Zealand
Celebrating Our Living Heritage | Proudly presented by Dunedin City Council
****
BNZ – Festival HQ
The historic Bank of New Zealand building is the fitting focal point for the ‘Layers of Gold’ celebrations serving as both Festival HQ and Exhibition Hall. The BNZ, which will also be celebrating its 150th birthday, opened its doors in Dunedin in 1861, on the corner of Princes St & Rattray St in the heart of what was to become the Exchange. Its opening was just three months shy of the establishment of the Bank’s first branch in Auckland. The BNZ building that stands on the site today was built in 1884.
After the Christchurch earthquake many artists studios, galleries and private homes with art collections were damaged or isolated. This site allows artists and owners to make a record of what is at risk and where it is. That record is secure to the owner or artist and will only be passed on to earthquake recovery authorities.
If you have works of art, antiques or other cultural valuables at risk in Christchurch you can record them here.
Expert says protection needed for at risk Chch artworks
Hamish Keith on Morning Report today (duration: 3′04″) AudioOgg vorbisMP3
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What if? Dunedin... 