Baxter memorial proposal does not stack up

IT needs to be pointed out that the Dunedin City Council’s new public art policy has been flaunted by the Archibald Baxter Memorial Trust’s proposed memorial on the George St site. By not availing the public to review the trust’s proposal, the transparency and accountability requested of the new policy has been circumnavigated.

Some of the issues that this memorial project raises: The removal of the muchadmired floral garden bed — a city icon in its own right; the fact that the site is an historic slip site unsuitable for building on with buried infrastructure that understandably needs to be kept accessible; that the selected sculptor, who is installing the physical component of the memorial is a relative novice for this unchallenged commission — the other, more experienced sculptors who were selected to compete for this commission withdrew from what they saw as a fraught process; that the alpine garden the trust has persisted with for the garden is a misguided concept that puts into question the credibility of the landscape design company guiding this project; the process of attaining this site after various fraught attempts at installing the memorial on more suitable sites in the city.

Collectively, these issues suggest an immediate review of this memorial project before another public art debacle unfolds, resulting in another lame feature being installed into the cityscape.

Stuart Griffiths

Dunedin Central

Queenstown development

WELL done, Gillian Macleod (Letters, 17.4.20), on summing up what developers’ greed has done to Queenstown, and some excellent ideas for the future to try to undo the horror which it now is.

One very dreadful thought, though, is your idea of moving the airport to a Central Otago location to release Queenstown skies from the noise and pressure it puts on making it a tourist destination. Don’t even think of putting that airport in Wanaka! There are enough caring folk there who are prepared to fight the Queenstown

Lakes District Council to stop it turning us into another tourist nightmare. Margaret Young

Mosgiel