DCC fills its urban design, heritage roles
THE Dunedin City Council has recruited two new staff responsible for heritage and urban design issues, and says the appointments will be critical in the years ahead.
Andrea Farminer was yesterday named as the council’s new heritage adviser, and Kathryn Ward as its new principal urban designer.
Dr Farminer will join the council on October 15, and is a replacement for heritage policy planner Dan Windwood, who resigned in August.
Mr Windwood was himself a replacement for former DCC heritage policy planner Glen Hazelton, who was back in Dunedin on Tuesday to give a heritage talk, at which Dr Farminer was introduced to the crowd.
Dr Farminer was working for Origin Consultants — a firm specialising in architecture, heritage conservation, building surveying and archaeological services — in Dunedin before accepting the council role.
Ms Ward began her new role with the DCC on Monday and was a replacement for urban design team leader Crystal Filep, who departed earlier this year.
Dunedin City Council city development manager Anna Johnson said she was ‘‘very excited’’ to welcome the two new recruits to the council team.
Dr Farminer would bring ‘‘a wealth of experience’’ from working in the United Kingdom, Dunedin and the wider region, Dr Johnson said.
That meant she already had wellestablished connections with many heritage building owners and a good understanding of the challenges of owning or managing a heritage building or site, equipping her well to work with owners on heritage conservation and adaptive reuse, Dr Johnson said.
Ms Ward was also from the United Kingdom, and had been involved in some ‘‘incredible’’ public space projects with Sefton Council before moving to New Zealand.
She was working for planning and landscape architecture consultancy Vivian+Espie in Queenstown before opting to take up her new role in Dunedin, Dr Johnson said.
Her role would be ‘‘critical’’ as the DCC embarked on some large public realm improvement projects over the next 10 years, Dr Johnson said.