Basin project chance to create Dunedin’s ‘heritage buildings of the future’
What if Dunedin’s proposed harbourside development came to fruition? Ian Taylor looks at the possibilities.
LATE on Tuesday afternoon I received a text from Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis that read: ‘‘You and Damien have liftoff and are flying. No need for parachutes with complete Councillor support. Congratulations! Lee.’’
Lee was referencing the unanimous decision of the council to support the bridge that will unlock the Van Brandenberg Steamer Basin development. I don’t know that I have ever been more proud of the fact that I live in this city on hearing that decision.
What has been happening in Dunedin over the past few weeks since the vision was released so positively by the Otago Daily
Times has been noticed around the country. Broadcaster Mike Hosking, went so far as to suggest Dunedin was showing Auckland how they needed to approach the fractious debates they continue to have on the future of their beautiful harbour.
The way in which our local bodies, the DCC, the Otago Regional Council, and the port authority have aligned themselves behind this vision is the envy of ratepayers all over the country and, for me, is as spectacular as the design itself. The ‘‘yes’’ vote is something we can all be incredibly proud of.
But it comes with a responsibility that I know Damien Van Brandenberg and I both share.
We have asked people to view this opportunity and to ask the question ‘‘What if . . . we did this?’’
And in asking that question we should answer not as councillors, elected representatives, businesspeople or even developers. We should ask as grandparents.
And one of the questions that has to be asked is: What if doing this meant we handed our grandchildren a debt that was impossible to sustain? That should be our starting point, our nonnegotiable. That simply cannot be the result of any vision for the future, no matter how exciting.
Lord Ernest Rutherford, when asked about the project that led to the splitting of the atom, is quoted as saying: ‘‘We didn’t have the money . . . so we had to think!’’
That’s how we must approach this exciting opportunity for our city and that is so much easier to do when someone has gifted us a vision to do that thinking around.
So here are some other ‘‘What ifs’’ to ponder.
What if doing this meant Dunedin, and the university, became a world centre of excellence on the study of global tidal rise and climate change based at a Southern Oceans’ Research Centre in the Steamer Basin, ensuring the long term reputation of our university as a leader in the study of climate change?
What if doing this meant that Dunedin became the new Government’s signal to the world of our renewed focus on the impacts of climate change?
What if doing this meant that major institutions around the world looked to partner with us to fund this important research that will simply continue to grow in importance over coming decades?
What if doing this was the catalyst for Clare Curran’s vision of a gaming centre of excellence in Dunedin built around the work of companies like Rocketwerkz, Runaway Play and others already operating from the city? What if the worldclass skills of Dunedin engineering companies such as Farra Engineering, Scott Technologies and Giltech led them to develop worldclass IP around the engineering and design opportunities that ambitious projects such as the harbourside vision will no doubt offer?
What if the support the DCC has already shown in this vision means potential partners for building a muchneeded hotel in the city are excited by the fact here is something we, as a city, will say ‘‘yes’’ to?
What if the spectacular ‘‘Shells’’ did become the cultural and arts centre known around the world simply as ‘‘The Hotere’’, our Guggenheim, our Louvre, our Sydney Opera House?
What if this new vision for the city and its impact on regional development became the poster child for the new Government’s regional development fund? A city that has aligned itself behind a vision for its future that is about growth, the creation of stimulating highvalue jobs AND an emphasis on sustainability and worldclass design.
We have a proud heritage of great buildings in this city, but once upon time they, too, were ‘‘new’’ buildings. They became heritage buildings with the passage of time and because they were beautifully designed. We have the opportunity to build on that reputation by creating the heritage buildings of the future down at the Steamer Basin.
I believe this is one of the most important decisions we will make as a city and we must ask questions and debate this together.
But let’s continue to surprise the rest of the country by doing that openly, honestly and in the full understanding that we — all of us — have the future of our city at heart.