Dunedin’s Logan Park / Signal Hill Fire Dec 2016 ● Cause unknown

Dunedin man Wayne Baird said flames were “a good 30 or 40 metres high…. It’s a good wind blowing right up the valley. It’s all bush and pine so it’s good fuel.” (Stuff)

28.12.16 Stuff.co.nz at 7:47am
Fire crews at the scene of large fire in Dunedin
By Hamish McNeilly
Fire crews are at the scene of a large fire on Wednesday morning to ensure it remains extinguished. The fire threatened a Dunedin high school and several homes. Patrols stayed on Signal Hill through the night, dampening down hot spots after a bush-clad area half the size of a rugby field on the side of Signal Hill was sparked on Tuesday afternoon. […] The fire was contained by 5.45pm on Tuesday and rural fire crews patrolled the area overnight, a Fire Service spokesman said. “I don’t believe it will spread any more and the chances of evacuation have gone down a lot,” he said.
Read more + Photos/Videos

Big bush fire starting behind Logan Park High School in Dunedin. Can see flames billowing pic.twitter.com/L7imYFDmEg

— Edward O’Driscoll (@edwardodriscoll) December 27, 2016

Looking at fire on Signal Hill from parents’ house in Maori Hill pic.twitter.com/Uu0K10lYwk

— Edward O’Driscoll (@edwardodriscoll) December 27, 2016

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27.12.16 RNZ News at 8:51 p.m.
Three homes evacuated over Dunedin scrub fire
Three homes have been evacuated as a precaution, as firefighters continue to extinguish a large scrub fire in Dunedin. The scrub fire on Signal Hill near Butts Road broke out at about 2.45pm and was fanned by strong winds. Link + Photos

27.12.16 NZ Herald at 7:19 p.m.
Large fire burning on Signal Hill in Dunedin contained
The fire on Signal Hill in Dunedin has been contained, but about 40 firefighters and three helicopters are continuing to fight the blaze. Earlier tonight three homes in Rimu Street, Ravensbourne, were evacuated as a precaution. The occupants of these homes are likely to return tonight. […] Local residents said the fire 10 years ago was worse. Link + Video

27.12.16 TVNZ 1 News at 5:47 p.m.
Fire on Dunedin’s Signal Hill now contained, cause still unknown
A large scrub fire in Dunedin is now contained, after it began earlier this afternoon. Forty firefighters and four helicopters are at the scene on Signal Hill behind Logan Park High School in North Dunedin. A Fire Service spokesperson says they were called to the fire just before 3pm. They say the blaze is now contained but not extinguished, and they expect to work all night dampening it down. Link + Video

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Otago Daily Times

28.12.16 Hillside ablaze in Dunedin [photos]
28.12.16 Fire crews on watch overnight [story, video and photos]
27.12.16 Ravensbourne evacuees likely to return home [story, videos and photos]

Otago Daily Times Published on Dec 27, 2016
Emergency services attend a large fire at Signal Hill
Emergency services, including three helicopters with monsoon buckets, attend a large fire at Signal Hill.

Otago Daily Times Published on Dec 27, 2016
Fire at Signal Hill
Video: Vaugan Elder

Otago Daily Times Published on Dec 27, 2016
Fire on Signal Hill from Logan Park
Fire on Signal Hill from Logan Park High School.

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TEN YEARS AGO

In late October 2006, bush fires caused extensive damage to forest plantations on the western slopes of Signal Hill. The series of fires forced DCC to close the Signal Hill Reserve indefinitely.

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HISTORICAL

ODT: Opinion: 100 Years Ago (re-published on 9 Oct 2014)
A great fire
Under the influence of the heavy north-west gale which blew yesterday the smouldering fires which are stated to have started on the Leith-Waitati saddle about last Tuesday and travelled to Mount Cargill burst into vivid flames, which spread with great rapidity. The warm winds which have been experienced since Tuesday – at first from the south-west and yesterday from the north-east – have had a drying effect on the grass, and, the fire once fully alight, soon spread in all directions. Yesterday fires were observed on Mount Cargill, on Signal Hill, and on the hill above Logan’s quarry, and vast clouds of smoke drifted from these across the harbour, in places quite blotting out the view. Fortunately the fire above the quarry did not live long, while that at Signal Hill also appeared late in the afternoon to have burnt itself out. On the Leith-Waitati saddle and Mount Cargill, however, a different tale has to be told. Read more

ODT: Opinion: 100 Years Ago (re-published on 11 Oct 2014)
Flames thwarted
Fortunately the flames of the Leith-Mt Cargill-Waitati Saddle fire did not demolish any dwellings, and the actual damage suffered by settlers, apart from the loss of timber, was, as far as could be ascertained, very slight, considering the magnitude of the fire. The loss of timber was the greatest suffered by anyone, and a good deal of valuable wood was destroyed. A few sheds and small huts were also wiped out of existence, and a length of tramway belonging to a sawmiller and an odd haystack was burned. The timber destroyed was the real loss, and it is difficult to estimate its value. However, it must be considerable. […] In a few places telegraph poles were burnt, but no damage was done sufficiently serious to interfere greatly with communication. The most irreparable damage is that to the scenic reserves, which have suffered very badly. A patch of bush at Upper Waitati between the Saddle and Pine Hill, owned by the Dunedin City Council and the Scenic Preservation Commissioners, was attacked, and many acres of it have been ruined.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Aramoana Pilot Wharf Restoration

[Aramoana League]

John Davis, secretary, Aramoana League Inc.
Excerpt from letter dated 25 July 2012:
(To Whom It May Concern)

“….The current Pilot’s Wharf, built around 1900, was first recorded as a landing stage in the early 1800s. It played a part in the construction of the Aramoana Mole which started in 1884. The wharf has been allowed to become run down over the years as various authorities involved have shuffled their responsibilities and failed to provide the routine maintenance required.

Since 1989, when the Otago Harbour Board was abolished, as part of local authority reform, recreational and non-commercial wharf structures were passed to the DCC. The DCC state they were unaware they owned the Pilot’s Wharf; hence it has not been maintained since that date – 23 years of neglect. Having now determined they are the owners they want to demolish it!”

█ For more information and the full letter, go to DCC report:
The Aramoana League’s Draft Proposal to Restore the Former Aramoana Pilots Wharf (13 October 2014).

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Aramoana and Pilots Wharf Location
(also known as Spit Wharf, Spit Jetty and Aramoana Wharf)

[click to enlarge]
DCC Webmaps – Aramoana township and Pilots Wharf JanFeb 2016

[Aramoana League]

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### ODT Online Sat, 17 Dec 2016
Tow-boat turned back
Contact: Shawn McAvinue, ODT
A Dunedin City Council contractor has been replaced after a botched attempt to get a digger to Aramoana wharf. Maritime NZ Southern compliance manager Michael Vredenburg said concerns were raised when an uncertified vessel was used in an attempt to tow a barge carrying a digger to Aramoana wharf on Thursday. […] DCC staff are working with alternative contractors that have the appropriate Maritime New Zealand certification.
Read more

Channel 39 Published on Dec 15, 2016
Wharf demolition delayed
The restoration of the Aramoana Pilot Wharf was delayed yesterday after a barge ran aground in Waipuna bay.

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“It’s been a long battle but the trust is committed to the goal of seeing it fully restored for future generations.” –Tracey Densem

### ODT Online Fri, 16 Dec 2016
Wharf demolition delayed
By Shawn McAvinue
Nature granted the Aramoana wharf a day’s reprieve from demolition. Dunedin City Council parks and recreation acting group manager Tom Dyer said demolition work on the wharf was put off yesterday and contractors hoped to start today. “High winds prevented the barge, which is needed as a base for the removal operation, from being installed alongside the wharf.”
Read more

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UNFORGIVEABLE DCC

At a council meeting on Monday, council staff agreed to work with the trust on the wharf restoration. The “hasty” council staff told the trust members about the planned demolition on Tuesday.

### ODT Online Thu, 15 Dec 2016
Trust disappointed over wharf demolition
By Shawn McAvinue
The demolition of the Aramoana wharf starts today to the “disappointment and surprise” of the trust aiming to restore it. Dunedin City Council recreation planning and facilities manager Jendi Paterson said the first part of the work involved separating the main portion of the wharf structure and walkway from the beach. “We are doing this to ensure there is every chance the walkway can be salvaged as per the wishes of the [Aramoana Pilot Wharf Restoration Charitable Trust].”
Read more

Trust member Tracey Densem said the wharf demolition was “devastating”. The wharf had heritage value and should be repaired in its present location, she said. […] “It’s an unrealistic timeline for the trust to work to – it’s hardly an example of a positive council-community partnership.”

█ DCC Report: Aramoana Wharf Removal (12.12.16)
Department: Parks and Recreation
● Structural condition and risk assessment : MWH
● Photographic assessment : MWH

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### channel39.co.nz June 9, 2015 – 6:43pm
Historic wharf to be restored
A forgotten civic asset is due to be restored, thanks to the gumption of a local community group. The Aramoana League has support from the city council to revive a recreational wharf. And that’ll ensure a historic link is maintained. 
█ Video

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### channel39.co.nz October 14, 2014 – 7:00pm
Aramoana wharf restoration gets a vote of support
It’s good news for the Aramoana League, which has long fought for the restoration of the Aramoana wharf. The Dunedin City Council’s community and environment committee has voted to support the project. That means the council will likely spend several thousand dollars on wharf assessments, and take over its future maintenance.
█ Video

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Calvin Oaten
October 14, 2014 at 3:22 pm
Just a few dollars for the archaeological assessment says Dave Cull and 13 of his councillors. This so the project can move on to the next stage. That, I believe will be the raising of the $100,000 expected to cost for the reinstatement of the Aramoana wharf. What? That is not a wharf, it is a jetty, which has no practical use ever since the days when it served as an embarkation point for harbour pilots to meet incoming ships, and to service the light at the end of the spit. I venture to suggest that 98% of our population are unaware of its existence. The fundraising will founder, the DCC money spent will be wasted, lest it comes up with the shortfall and completes the job. Then what? Nobody will use it except the very odd curious ‘boatie’. Another dopey waste of money which the council doesn’t have. Dave Cull just doesn’t get it, the town is broke. The thirteen are no better, only Cr Vandervis has the sense to know a ‘purple pig’ when he sees it.

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### ODT Online Tue, 14 Oct 2014
DCC backs restoring Aramoana wharf
By Debbie Porteous
The Dunedin City Council has indicated its support for a community project to restore the Aramoana wharf. It has also agreed to pay for an archaeological assessment of the wharf so the project can move on to the next stage, and a heritage impact assessment, if necessary, after that.
Read more

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### ODT Online Mon, 13 Oct 2014
Vision to recycle wharf
By Debbie Porteous
….Efforts by the Aramoana League to restore the 105-year-old 22m-long wharf continue on a new track after it acknowledged little of the structure could be retained, given its state of deterioration. The league is now working on a project to build a 10m wharf, using as much of the existing material as possible.
Read more

To be tabled at the DCC Community and Environment Committee meeting today:

Report – CEC – 13/10/2014 (PDF, 4.5 MB)
The Aramoana League’s Draft Proposal to Restore the Former Aramoana Pilots Wharf

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

NZ Loan and Mercantile : Concept and master plan by architect Paul Ries

Letting the building “tell its story”, involves retaining and keeping exposed as many historic features as possible.

### ODT Online Wed, 4 May 2016
Redevelopment revised (+ video)
By Vaughan Elder
Owner Russell Lund’s previous plans to redevelop the three-storey 143-year-old heritage warehouse building in Thomas Burns St involved building 24 long-term apartments on the top floor, but he told the Otago Daily Times yesterday he had changed tack. He has brought over United States architect and friend Paul Ries, who has drawn up ambitious plans to convert the two top floors into more than 50 short-stay apartments, with the ground floor used as a commercial space.
Read more + Gallery

Otago Daily Times Published on May 3, 2016
Dunedin Loan and Mercantile building

█ Site Plan and Images: Paul Ries | Supplied by Russell Lund

Related Posts and Comments:
6.8.15 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —meeting tomorrow
13.3.15 Making heritage work | Dunedin New Zealand
28.11.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —Resource Consent granted (pics)
26.11.14 Retraction (see comment on ‘Heritage Counts’)
26.9.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —what ESCO said!
30.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing
24.10.09 Rodney Wilson: Dunedin as national heritage city

█ For more, enter the terms *harbourside*, *heritage* or *lund* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Building Owner | Architect

DPAG exhibition talk, Sunday 20 Sept —Jonathan Howard on Dunedin 1865

Jonathan Howard, Heritage New Zealand’s Otago Southland Area Manager, will talk on the exhibition now showing Dunedin 1865: A City Rises. This is a 2015 Dunedin Heritage Festival event.

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[screenshot – click to enlarge]

http://dunedin.art.museum/events/date/2015-09-20
http://dunedin.art.museum/exhibitions/now/a_city_rises

█ The exhibition closes on Sunday, 27 September 2015.

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EXHIBITION NOTICE
Archives New Zealand Dunedin Regional Office currently has an exhibition on display, until 16 October 2015, featuring the Testimonial presented by the citizens of Dunedin to the Dunedin Volunteer Fire Brigade to thank them for all their work in the fires of early 1865. Also on display, there are archives showing the work of the Dunedin Sanitary Commission, about the conversion of the Exhibition Building for the Dunedin Hospital and a proposal for new Provincial Government Buildings.

Archives New Zealand Dunedin Regional Office at 556 George Street

█ Open weekdays from 9.30am to 5.00pm. For more information, contact dunedin.archives @dia.govt.nz —or telephone 477 0404

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Related Posts and Comments:
30.8.15 DPAG exhibition | Dunedin 1865: A City Rises…
30.8.15 La Maison House of Pleasure, Queens Gardens —then and today
29.8.15 Standard Building, 201 Princes Street —then and today
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 ‘The Open City’ … 29 Aug
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 Shoreline Trail launch

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: Archives New Zealand Dunedin Regional Office at 556 George Street via Google Street View (Feb 2010)

Esco —‘just the global hardball player we always were’, sorry staff….

Esco Dunedin was among a group of neighbouring businesses objecting to Russell Lund’s plans to redevelop the 142 year old Loan and Mercantile building, citing reverse sensitivity concerns, including over noise. The outcome of Environment Court mediation talks was yet to be revealed, but Mr Kershaw said the issue played no part in the company’s decision. (ODT)

### ODT Online Wed, 2 Sep 2015
Foundry closure ‘a blow’
By Chris Morris
Australia’s mining downturn is set to deliver a “real blow” to Dunedin’s economy with the closure of the Esco foundry and the loss of dozens of jobs. Staff at Esco Dunedin were told yesterday the foundry would close by the end of the year, with the loss of 34 jobs. Esco products division president Jeff Kershaw, of Portland, in the United States, said in a statement the decision reflected a downturn in Australia’s mining industry that showed no sign of letting up.
Read more

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TWO THINGS

█ Remember when Esco pushed this button (highlighted) at the NZ Loan and Mercantile Building resource consent hearing:

ODT Online [screenshot]

█ From file records, see Russell Lund’s percipient closing to hearing:

[para] 102. The biggest hurdle would seem to be the decline of the Australian coal mining industry. I refer to a Guardian article May 5, 2014 Australian Coalmining entering structural decline.

116. Esco have a large foundry operation in China. They employ 675 people in China.

117. I am very sure the production costs of Esco’s Chinese foundries are markedly less than in Dunedin, Portland or anywhere else. That is the ticking clock for the Dunedin foundry, and other Esco foundries.

118. The bottom line is that Esco will operate this small Dunedin foundry only as long as it serves their shareholders’ interests. If the market conditions dictate that consolidation is required and it is surplus to requirements, then they will act swiftly, as they did in Brisbane.

LUC-2014-259 RV Lund Applicant Right of Reply 22.9.14
(PDF, 6 MB)

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Related Posts and Comments:
6.8.15 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —meeting tomorrow
13.3.15 Making heritage work | Dunedin New Zealand
7.1.15 Industrial Heritage Save: Cowes Hammerhead crane
28.11.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —Resource Consent granted
26.11.14 Retraction (see comment on ‘Heritage Counts’)
● 26.9.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —what ESCO said!
30.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing
16.3.10 Public meeting: planning the future of Dunedin heritage buildings
24.10.09 Rodney Wilson: Dunedin as national heritage city

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile*, *heritage*, *bradken* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DPAG exhibition | Dunedin 1865: A City Rises (29 Aug – 27 Sep 2015)

2015 marks 150 years of the city of Dunedin
With the benefit of William Meluish’s magnificent panorama of 1865 this exhibition centres on the year Dunedin becomes a city. Drawing on other contemporary and pre- and post-dated images we see where Dunedin had come from and was going to. Fuelled by the Otago goldrushes and driven by the acumen, tenacity and aspiration of its citizens Dunedin rapidly rises. This exhibition is brought to you by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga with support from the Southern Heritage Trust.

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[screenshot]

█ View more of Meluish’s panorama by clicking the arrows at http://www.dunedin.art.museum/exhibitions/now/a_city_rises

█ Encyclopedia of New Zealand | Story: Meluish, William

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Related Posts and Comments:
30.8.15 La Maison House of Pleasure, Queens Gardens —then and today
30.8.15 Standard Building, 201 Princes Street —then and today
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 ‘The Open City’ Sat 29 August
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 Shoreline Trail launch

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 ‘The Open City’ Saturday 29 August

1865 DUNEDIN | Dunedin Heritage Festival 2015
Friday 28 August – Sunday 30 August
Celebrating 150 years of building our great small city

█ Events Programme at http://www.heritagefestival.org.nz/

█ The Open City
The Open City will be held on Saturday 29 August with as many as 60 Dunedin buildings opening their doors to the public, encouraging festival-goers to explore and discover more about their city; choose from the massive list of open buildings and businesses including the Anatomy Museum, the Garrison Hall, Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics’ Institute or travel to Quarantine Island.
● Venues indicated with the bookings essential symbol, can be booked by contacting the venue.

The Open City Map has been published Link

[click to enlarge]

█ Scalable Open City Map (Google) available at http://www.heritagefestival.org.nz/main/index.php/the-open-city

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 Shoreline Trail launch

1865 DUNEDIN | Dunedin Heritage Festival 2015
Friday 28 August – Sunday 30 August
Celebrating 150 years of building our great small city

█ Events Programme at http://www.heritagefestival.org.nz/

█ Dunedin Shoreline Trail
The Dunedin 1865 Shoreline Trail will be launched by Dr Matt Schmidt (Heritage New Zealand) and Paul Pope (Dunedin Amenities Society) next Sunday, August 30, at 11.30am. The free hour-long walk will depart from the early settlers’ plaque at the top of Water St and proceed along the early shoreline to St Andrew St, with descriptions of interesting archaeological and built heritage features along the way.

[click to enlarge]

The Dunedin Shoreline Trail brings together years of research into the city’s history, above and below ground.

### ODT Online Sun, 23 Aug 2015
Dunedin’s early shorelines explored
By Brenda Harwood
The extraordinary feat of pick-and-shovel engineering that altered Dunedin’s shoreline by up to 700 metres in the 1860s is highlighted in a new walking trail. The Dunedin Shoreline Trail, which marks the city’s harbour boundary in 1865, will be launched next week during the Dunedin Heritage Festival, which celebrates 150 years since Dunedin became a city.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —meeting tomorrow

“You can’t be too confident, but if we’re all reasonable I think an agreement is definitely within reach.” –Russell Lund

Farra Engineering chief executive John Whitaker agreed yesterday when contacted there had been “good work” during mediation.

### ODT Online Thu, 6 Aug 2015
Extra conditions may rescue project
By Chris Morris
Plans to breathe new life into Dunedin’s historic Loan and Mercantile building could be about to take a significant step forward. Building owner Russell Lund will meet a group of neighbouring harbourside businesses, as well as Dunedin City Council and Otago Chamber of Commerce representatives, tomorrow to discuss the stalled project.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
13.3.15 Making heritage work | Dunedin New Zealand
28.11.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —Resource Consent granted (pics)
26.11.14 Retraction (see comment on ‘Heritage Counts’)
26.9.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —what ESCO said!
30.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing
24.10.09 Rodney Wilson: Dunedin as national heritage city

█ For more, enter the terms *harbourside*, *heritage* or *lund* in the search box at right.

[click image to enlarge]

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Post/image by Elizabeth Kerr

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —Resource Consent granted

Dunedin City Council has granted resource consent with conditions (LUC-2014-259) to Russell Lund, owner of the former NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building, for the development of residential apartments on the upper (top) floor.
The building is located in the Port 2 zone and the Queens Gardens Heritage Precinct (TH12).
The entire external building envelope is listed for protection in the Dunedin City District Plan.
Heritage New Zealand has registered the former industrial warehouse as a Category 2 historic place and recognises its heritage values and significance within the registered Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area.
The building is pivotal to contextual readings and narratives for the Port of Dunedin, Steamer Basin, and reclaimed foreshore as much as future development in the Port 2 and Harbourside zones incorporating public access to the water’s edge.

Decision
The final consideration of the application, which took into account all information presented at the hearing, was undertaken during the public-excluded portion of the Hearing.
The Committee reached the following decision after considering the application under the statutory framework of the Resource Management Act 1991:

Land Use LUC-2014-259
Pursuant to section 34A(1) and 104B and after having regard to Part 2 matters and sections 104 and 104D of the Resource Management Act 1991, the Dunedin City Council grants consent to a non-complying activity being the establishment of residential activity within the NZ Loans (sic) and Mercantile Building and associated building alterations at 31 & 33 Thomas Burns Street, Dunedin, being the land legally described as Section 21-22 Block XLVII held in CRF 0T288161 (Limited as to Parcels) subject to conditions imposed under section 108 of the Act, as shown on the attached Certificate.

█ Download: LUC-2014-259 Letter of decision

Right of Appeal — In accordance with Section 120 of the Resource Management Act 1991, the applicant and/or any submitter may appeal to the Environment Court against the whole or any part of the decision within 15 working days of the notice of the decision being received.

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[click to enlarge]

Recently, architectural historian Peter Entwisle assessed the building’s significance in the national context and recommended review of the registration status to Category 1. Earlier assessment work in the 2000s commissioned by the Otago Branch Committee of New Zealand Historic Places Trust and led by Elizabeth Kerr, included the achievement of two academic studies by University of Otago history student Stephen Deed with supervision from Dr Alexander Trapeznik towards Committee review of the building’s registration and establishment of a historic area on the Dunedin harbourside. Assessment work for registration of the historic area was successfully completed by the NZHPT Otago Southland Area Office. Unfortunately, ongoing restructuring within the Trust has meant review of the building’s registration has not been prioritised or resourced. It is hoped that Mr Entwisle’s strong research will lead Heritage New Zealand to mandate the work with some urgency.

Onwards…….

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Related Posts and Comments:
26.11.14 Retraction (see comment on ‘Heritage Counts’)
26.9.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —what ESCO said!
30.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

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Post and images by Elizabeth Kerr

*All images lowres only at this webpage.

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —what ESCO said!

Land Use Consent: LUC-2014-259
31-33 Thomas Burns Street, Dunedin
NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building

█ Application LUC-2014-259 (PDF, 4.0 MB)

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[see related posts below] The consent hearing reconvened on Monday 22 September at 9:30 AM to hear closings of the city planners and right of reply for applicant Russell Lund. The hearing is now closed; commissioners Andrew Noone (chair), David Benson-Pope and Lee Vandervis are considering their decision.

Background to this post:
Following the initial hearing held on Tuesday 19 August, it is What if? Dunedin’s contention that Debbie Porteous, for the Otago Daily Times, provided news stories which failed to give appropriate weight and balance to submissions and evidence from supporting and opposing submitters, the applicant, and experts for the parties.

ODT stories:
█ 20.8.14 Demolition threatened; job loss possibility raised
Esco Dunedin site manager Dean Taig told the panel if the apartments were allowed next door he would have “grave concerns” for the future of the foundry which employed 39 people and had plans to employ 100 people.
[negative writerly tone]

█ 21.8.14 Businesses fear being driven out of area
It is a choice between buildings and jobs, a panel considering whether to allow apartments in a heritage building in Dunedin’s waterfront industrial area has been told. The district plan had already made the choice for them, lawyer Phil Page also said, because it said there could not be incompatible activities in the same area.
[negative writerly tone becomes shrill, no right of reply for applicant]

█ 29.8.14 DCC to foot apartments consent bill
The development is opposed by nearby industrial businesses, which are concerned about reverse sensitivity issues such as noise and smell and the effect of gentrification of the area on their future enterprises.
[stirring, ends with a negative, no right of reply for applicant]

What on earth had ESCO put to hearing?
● Evidence of Counsel for ESCO Dunedin Pty Ltd – D R Clay (Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Lawyers – Auckland) (PDF, 704 KB)
● Evidence of Dean Taig, site manager of ESCO Dunedin Pty Ltd Dunedin foundry (PDF, 246 KB)
● Evidence of Michael Smith, independent traffic engineering expert (Traffic Design Group) (PDF, 531 KB)
● Evidence of Shane Roberts, independent planning expert (Opus International Consultants) (PDF, 1.82 MB)

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█ These snivellings from Ms Porteous ran counter to a supportive comment by editor Murray Kirkness on Saturday 6 September:

“It is certainly encouraging that another local developer is prepared to foot the bill to preserve a distinctive piece of the city’s heritage. It is to be hoped his plans go more smoothly than those for Russell Lund’s restoration and apartment conversion of the Loan and Mercantile building. That proposal is complicated by the fact it is in the wharf area and has been opposed by neighbouring industrial businesses. The council hearing into Mr Lund’s consent application resumes this month.” (ODT)

█ On Tuesday 9 September, reporter Chris Morris also cleared the biased air of Ms Porteous, with last sentences:

“Last month, building owner Russell Lund criticised a council planner’s decision to recommend declining consent for his planned redevelopment of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Building. That proposal, which has attracted more support than opposition, is still being considered, with an adjourned hearing set to resume later this month.” (ODT)

Heritage advocates are awaiting something/anything in print from Ms Porteous about the applicant’s technically fulsome right of reply given on 22 September. Why the delay, we ask?

It’s pleasing to learn Murray Kirkness kindly phoned Russell Lund this evening to say a story appears in tomorrow’s newspaper.
THANK YOU MURRAY !!
We look forward to reading this, we hope….

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Related Posts and Comments:
30.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: wikimedia.org – NZ Loan and Mercantile Building by Ben C Hill for Heritage New Zealand [NZHPT]

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential

Updated post Wed, 3 Mar 2015 at 2:39 p.m.

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building, built in stages between 1872 and 1885. Historical building and harbour views (1925) before the addition of the concrete top storey with saw-tooth roof in 1929, the space now proposed for residential use. Details from photographs reproduced in Trapeznik’s book Dunedin’s Warehouse Precinct, pp 34 & 68 [Hocken Collections]

31-33 Wharf Street, proximity to Steamer Basin and Chinese Garden
[Google Streetview 2013]

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ODT 29.8.14 (page 12)

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building with forecourt of Chinese Garden, from Rattray Street. [Elizabeth Kerr]

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### ODT Online Fri, 29 Aug 2014
DCC to foot apartments consent bill
By Debbie Porteous
The Dunedin City Council is footing the bill to process the consent required for the development of the former Loan and Mercantile Building in the harbourside area. But the chairman of the panel deciding whether to grant consent to convert the building to apartments says the historic agreement has no bearing on the decision. The no fee arrangement is the result of a council resolution dated September 2011, in which the council agreed any resource consent required for the development and use of the building at 33 Thomas Burns St should be processed at no cost to the applicant. The resolution was part of a suite of agreements resulting from the mediation process that resolved appeals to Plan Change 7: Dunedin Harbourside.
Read more

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Building details [Google Streetview 2013] – The NZ Loan and Mercantile Building, originally known as the Otago Wool Stores, was built in 1872 for stock and station agents Driver Stewart and Co. Heritage New Zealand lists the construction professionals as Walter Bell, Robert Arthur Lawson, and Mason & Wales Architects Ltd. According to Trapeznik, William Mason was the architect responsible for the plainer part of the complex in the early 1870s. RA Lawson designed the right-hand corner extension in 1880, with additions in 1883 and 1885.

█ More photos here.

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Related Posts and Comments:
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing

█ For more on Dunedin’s Harbourside and Plan Change 7, enter the term *harbourside* in the search box at right.

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (b. 1872-85), next to the former W. Gregg & Co. coffee factory (b. 1878) and the Wharf Hotel established circa 1880
[Google Streetview 2013]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

● NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co. Ltd Building – mention by Alexander Trapeznik in Dunedin’s Warehouse Precinct at http://www.genrebooks.co.nz/ebooks/DunedinsWarehousePrecinct.pdf (2014) pp66-71

● W. Gregg & Co. coffee factory and store, Fryatt St – mention by blogger David Murray at http://builtindunedin.com/2014/02/17/thomas-bedford-cameron-architect/

● Wharf Hotel – mention by Frank Tod in Pubs Galore: History of Dunedin Hotels 1848-1984 (Dunedin: Historical Publications, 1984) p61

█ Peter Entwisle recently researched the history and significance of the NZ Loan and Mercantile Building, and presented his findings in evidence to hearing for the application (scanned):
LUC-2014-259 History and Heritage Significance of the NZL&MA Building 19.8.14 (PDF, 2 MB)

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Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development

By properly and logically establishing the significance of a historic port, plans can be laid that enhance and build on that significance and that incorporate difficult heritage buildings and structures.
–Simon Thurley, English Heritage

Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust registered the Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area on 4 April 2008 (List No. 7767). The historic area takes in properties at 25, 31-33 Thomas Burns Street, Birch Street, Fryatt Street, Fish Street, Willis Street, Cresswell Street, Tewsley Street, Wharf Street, Roberts Street and Mason Street.

Image: Heritage New Zealand

The Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area is made up of the core of the port operations and associated businesses surrounding the steamer basin at the Upper Harbour in Dunedin which had developed by the first decades of the twentieth century. It includes a major portion of the land in Rattray, Willis and Cresswell Streets which was reclaimed by the end of the nineteenth century. It also includes the Fryatt Street and Cross Wharves, including the wharf sheds on Fryatt Street Wharf, as well as the former Otago Harbour Board Administration Building at the Junction of Birch Street and Cross Wharves, the former British Sailors’ Society Seafarers’ Centre, and the former Briscoe’s Wharf Store and Works on the corner of Birch, Wharf and Roberts Streets [since lost to fire], and the walls and bridge abutment on Roberts Street which are the remnants of the bridge which linked that Street to the city.
█ Read Registration report here.

Dunedin City Council has refused to list the Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area in the District Plan.

Image: ODT [screenshot]

### ODT Online Sat, 15 Mar 2014
‘Potential new harbourside developments ‘exciting’
By Chris Morris
Excitement is growing about the potential for fresh development of Dunedin’s harbourside, including a new marine science institute featuring a public aquarium being considered by the University of Otago. The Otago Daily Times understands university staff have already held preliminary talks with Dunedin City Council staff about a possible new marine science institute in the harbourside zone, on the south side of steamer basin. The Otago Regional Council has also met Betterways Advisory Ltd, which wants to build a waterfront hotel in the city, to discuss the ORC’s vacant waterfront site, it has been confirmed.
Read more

Potential for contemporary reuse – Fryatt Street wharfsheds
Images: 4.bp.blogspot.com; m1.behance.net

Historic ports are places that need intelligent interrogation before we start to reinvent them for the future: understanding their heritage significance is the first step.

On the waterfront: culture, heritage and regeneration of port cities

HERITAGE IN REGENERATION: INSPIRATION OR IRRELEVANCE?
By Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive, English Heritage

I had better come clean at the start. I live in a port. As it happens, it is a port which was, in its time, and on a different scale, as successful as Liverpool was in its heyday. But that time is rather a long time ago now, in fact over four hundred years. In 1600 my home town of King’s Lynn was amongst Britain’s leading ports, bigger than Bristol in numbers of ships and with trading tentacles reaching into the Baltic and far into the Mediterranean. Lynn’s position as a port was destroyed by the railways and although it still has working docks today the tonnage that passes through is very small. Yet anyone visiting it can instantly see that this was once a port; the customs house, the old quays, the merchants houses, the big market places and the fishermen’s houses all add immeasurably to Lynn’s sense of place.

We not only ask developers to build new structures that respect the old, but we also require them to incorporate old ones that have value.

It is this sense of place, this character, that we at English Heritage will always say that needs to be understood. For us the first and most important thing is that any developer and the relevant local authority should have a full understanding of the place in which major change is are planned. Various tools have been invented over the years to try and help that process. These include characterisation, historical studies, view studies, urban analysis and more. But does this actually make any difference? What happens to the richly illustrated historical reports produced by consultants? Are they handed to architects who then use them as their bible? Are they taken up by the planners and turned into supplementary planning guidance? Or do they just get put on a shelf?

There can be a broad consensus about what constitutes successful development that preserves aesthetic values. The trick for planning authorities is finding a way to capture it.

The answer is that normally it just gets forgotten because for most developers and many local authorities heritage is just a hindrance. If a report on heritage is commissioned they will have ticked off a process that they need to say they have done, but once completed it can be set aside and everyone can get on with the business of making money. Ipswich is an example of this. Like many ports, it has refocused its commercial hub away from the historic centre leaving a lot of land in the historic trading heart for regeneration. The city decided to prepare what it called an Area Action Plan for the redevelopment of the historic port. This included some work on the history, archaeology and development of the area: all very useful. The process was then to take this forward to create a series of planning briefs and master plans to inform individual developments. This would reinforce general points in the action plan about storey heights, vistas and through routes as well as issues about historic character. Regrettably, this latter part was not done and what Ipswich got was lots of poorly designed high-rise flats built on a budget. And they got it with the heritage studies still sitting on a shelf.
Read more

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Image: English Heritage – Tobacco Warehouse 1903, Stanley Dock LP

Liverpool World Heritage Site
Liverpool was inscribed as a World Heritage Site as the supreme example of a maritime city and its docks are testimony to that claim. Jesse Hartley’s Albert Dock, opened in 1845, is the finest example of a nineteenth century wet dock in the world while the nearby Canning Graving Docks and Waterloo and Wapping Warehouses are also of note. North of Pier Head with its magnificent ‘Three Graces’, Stanley Dock, Victoria Clock Tower and Salisbury Dock lie derelict, awaiting re-use. Link

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Contemporary development — Shed 10 and The Cloud, Queens Wharf, Auckland
Images: (from top) conventionsnz.co.nz; queens_wharf.co.nz; queens_wharf.co.nz; upload.wikimedia.org

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Portobello Road Consultation —Public Meeting | Monday 13 May

Here is the latest web update for the Portobello Community.

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.

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Related Post and Comments:
28.3.13 | Updated 29.3.13
DCC Draft Annual Plan 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements Project

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC Draft Annual Plan 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements Project

Updated Post 29.3.13

Received yesterday by email.

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.

[click on image to enlarge]

See page 24, Section 1 Group of Activities (PDF, 1.5 MB)
and page 142, Section 2 Financial Statements (PDF, 1.2 MB)

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).

[See also: Dunedin’s Proposed Cycle Network, adopted August 2011]

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.

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin stormwater: more differences between ORC and DCC

Dunedin residents favour a cleaner harbour and coastal environment?

### ODT Online Thu, 7 Jun 2012
Impasse over stormwater
By Debbie Porteous
Disagreement over improving the quality of stormwater could see the Dunedin City Council and the Otago Regional Council at loggerheads for some time – and may even end up in court. City council infrastructure services committee chairman Cr Andrew Noone says the regional council may be slowly changing its view, but there is a long way to go before the two councils reach a position on which they can agree. The DCC applied to the ORC late last month to renew four 35-year resource consents – expiring in November – to discharge stormwater into Otago Harbour, the ocean at St Clair and Second beaches and Andersons Bay inlet.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin: Artificial islands for upper harbour?

“Basically, Port Otago has no objections to the concept provided that there is widespread community support for it.”

### ODT Online Mon, 9 Jan 2012
Growing support for Harbour Islands plan
By John Lewis
A necklace of islands mooted for the upper harbour, using 7.2 million cubic metres of spoil dredged from lower Otago Harbour, is gaining traction. The Harbour Islands project was first floated last year during consent hearings of Port Otago’s application to deepen the harbour. Harbour Restoration Group member Peter Hayden said there was common consensus development was vital to the port’s future economic prosperity.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin City public art: “susceptibility to decay and damage”

An honest if contrived conceptual work that carries its themes well.

### ODT Online Thu, 1 Apr 2010
Dental fixture still to be polished
By David Loughrey
Regan Gentry’s problems with his wisdom teeth while studying at the Otago Polytechnic, along with Dunedin’s dental school, heritage buildings and harbour mouth, were all inspirations for the artist’s striking new installation in Portsmouth Dr. Harbour Mouth Molars comprises six large wisdom teeth constructed from concrete and Oamaru stone, each weighing 6.5 tonnes, and paid for by the Dunedin City Council under its art in public places programme.
Read more

Related post:
24.2.10 DCC Art in Public Places: New work commissioned

Post by Elizabeth Kerr