Our missed opportunity
Why does Dunedin’s waterfront redevelopment continue to languish, asks Angus Mackay.
TOURISM is now wellrecognised as the number one economic earner for New Zealand and it is only likely to grow, while our port industries have continued to stagnate.
The cruiseship industry is booming, and thousands more visitors are coming each year. They tread a wellworn tourism tour, but the harbour side, with its mainly dilapidated warehouses is bypassed — what a missed opportunity.
Here is a vision of what a waterfront redevelopment in Dunedin might entail.
Firstly, a broad enough cycleway, allowing twoway traffic that extends fully around the waterfront, on its edge, if possible. It needs to be easily accessed via multiple points, from the university to South Dunedin, by cycleway extensions.
Secondly, a bridge over the railway, probably best constructed beside the Chinese Gardens, would provide a key connection for residents, workers and visitors to the central business district and warehouse precinct.
A fivestar hotel could help kickstart the whole project. The vacant land owned by the Otago Regional Council, which was initially earmarked for its headquarters, would be a prime site. The hotel should be designed to blend in with our heritage buildings, and would not need to be monstrously high since the views across the harbour would not be impeded.
The hotel would be of interest not only to the burgeoning
Chinese tourism market, but also to those with our stadium in their sights: concert performers (e.g. Ed Sheeran), and their entourages, as well as international rugby teams, staying longer in Dunedin, further boosting our local economy.
The hotel could trigger a surge of property and business developers into the area, like seagulls swooping around a fishingtrawler. Cafes, bars and apartment dwellings would start to pop up by the waterfront. Users of the new cycleway would be ready clientele. One only has to look at the popular cafes at St Clair (by the sea) to envision how popular our harbour waterfront might be. And yet, we do not want to be overrun by tourists — it’s about balance. So why the inertia?
What will become of our harbourside industries? This is probably the main issue that needs to be addressed and of course all our industries should be looked after and nurtured in parallel to developing in new areas (such as tourism). We would need to assess which existing (and potential future) industries are compatible with a new mix via waterfront redevelopment. Hopefully the majority would simply blend in and remain. And of course, any industries recommended for relocation should be given financial and logistical support. I appreciate that suitable land on which to viably relocate industries may be scarce and therefore it will be challenging, but achievable.
Cost is another legitimate concern. Ratepayers will be concerned about paying for the infrastructure: the cycleway, the harbourcity bridge connection, lighting, seating, plantings, green spaces, parking, drainage etc.
The Dunedin City Council has already committed to the cycleway, but I believe it should be exploring publicprivate partnerships to subsidise the overall costs involved. It would be in the interest of property developers, especially those behind a significantcosting hotel, to help subsidise the infrastructure, making the area attractive to visitors, while being wellconnected to the city.
The University of Otago — which has ideas about building a public aquarium in that area — might also come to the party.
Might ORC chairman Stephen Woodhead and Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull be more proactive in driving this project through when the redevelopment could transform the city?
Hopefully we will see the cityharbour bridge being given much greater attention, and reinstated in the DCC’s 10year plan as a minimum commitment.
While Dunedin’s weather does have a reputation, it does not need to pose a threat to waterfront redevelopment. Southwesterly winds can be bitter, drawing up cold air from the Antarctic land masses, and the harbourside can be exposed to seasonal cooler northeasterly winds as well. Nevertheless, it’s worth considering that John Wilson Dr, which is equally if not more exposed, due to its raised embankment, gets plenty of use all year round. Queenstown has much colder winters than Dunedin, but people remain undeterred from enjoying its waterfront in a multitude of weather conditions.
It is also worth considering Dunedin’s counterparts. Russell Lund recently referenced a heritagesavvy hotel along Hobart’s attractive waterfront (ODT, 8.5.17). Tasmania’s capital city has a similar climate to Dunedin’s and is equally exposed.
The cities of London, Liverpool, Glasgow and Belfast, which have climates similar to or worse than Dunedin’s, have all made the transition from industrial docklands to vibrant, attractive, mixeduse waterfronts.
Dunedin may be one of the ‘last cabs off the rank’, but better late than never.
❛ Dunedin must be one of the last cities in the world to make a switch
from declining port industries to waterfront
development❜