Major concerns over how hospital will be finished
IS the new Dunedin Hospital ever going to be built? Proposed by the previous National government and promised by the Labour Government, little seems to have happened.
A time frame was for the day surgery building to be completed by
November 2023, the outpatients building by November 2024, and the main inpatients building to be completed by 2029. Although the building of the new hospital has received some sort of approval, a business case has yet to be approved.
How can you go about purchasing buildings, the main one being the former Cadbury one, having them demolished, worrying about the ground beneath them being stable enough to support new buildings and having design plans changing without the business case being approved?
Tenders to build the hospital will soon be asked for and we are told that the successful tenderer will work closely with the design team over the next two years. Does this mean that construction of the day surgery building will not even begin until then?
All major building projects in New Zealand have large cost overruns and this will be no different.
The projected cost of $1.4 billion will blow out. How can the Labour Cabinet approve any cost overrun with a tender likely to exceed the
$1.4 billion mark? Is the business case then purely based on cost?
Ross Davidson
Wakari
Character building
IF there is a convincing argument for the demolition of the former Scribes bookshop building on the corner of St David St and the oneway system north, I would be interested to hear it, especially considering its listing by the Dunedin City Council as one of the city’s ‘‘charactercontributing buildings’’.
So there were ‘‘mushrooms growing in it’’! Quite common in unused and unheated parts of old buildings where dampness has gone undetected. Is that a reason?
Was there a qualified engineer’s report carried out?
Obviously, the building’s demolition has been a fait accompli for some time, judging by the published plan of an accommodation block that is to replace it.
If this has been a lastminute announcement, what future can be held for countless other Dunedin structures, particularly those in such prominent corner positions as Scribes, which is similar in age and detail to the Good Earth building in the next block?
Has the city council turned its back on Dunedin’s heritage buildings, which so many of us, council included, fought so hard to protect, not that many decades ago?
Lois Galer
Dunedin
[Dunedin City Council resource consents manager Alan Worthington replies:
‘‘The DCC does consider historic buildings to be an important part of the city. This is reflected in the district plan, where almost 800 buildings are listed as significant, more than 900 are identified as charactercontributing and there are 19 heritage precincts. The recent district plan review added to the list of significant buildings, enlarged the heritage precincts and strengthened the city’s heritage policies and protection.
‘‘The old Scribes building is listed as charactercontributing, but is not a protected significant building. This status was taken into account as part of the consent process. In terms of an engineer’s report, this is not something that can be considered as part of that process. In this instance, the assessment was restricted to ensuring the new building fits with the precinct’s design values, as outlined in the district plan. The applicant worked with DCC staff to ensure the new contemporary building design aligns with those values.’’] ...................................
BIBLE READING: Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. — Mathew 26.41.
IN recognition of the importance of readers’ contributions to the letters page, the newspaper each week selects a Letter of the Week with a book prize courtesy of Penguin Random House. This week’s winner is Harrison Newton, of Opoho, for a letter about giving the next generation a chance to shine. The prize is a copy of The Mirror Book, by Charlotte Grimshaw. The winning letter was printed on Monday.