Plea to preserve part of Port Chalmers history

I WRITE in support of the preservation of the historic waterside workers union building, now known as the Waterfront Industry Commission building, in Port Chalmers.

I endorse the views of Dr Peter Petchey. This building is of local and national significance and should be preserved.

I have recently lodged an application to Heritage New Zealand requesting the building be entered on to the New Zealand Heritage list. I have also requested Port Otago reconsider its plan to demolish this great building.

Within it is a blue stone wall which was part of the old freezing works at the port. I suspect it dates back to the earliest shipments of frozen meat from Otago in the 1880s.

The building has also played a key role in the history of workers at the port, and through them, of the community in Port Chalmers. During the 1951 waterfront dispute it was known as ‘‘the Bureau’’.

Generations of Port Chalmers waterfront workers have longstanding links with this place, which has been in use until very recently, and many have expressed huge dismay that it is earmarked for destruction.

I have written to Port Otago to request that it release the recent heritage assessment report done on this building.

The Art Deco style brick building has a proud heart. It forms part of a frontage to the port itself, speaks to the maritime history, and it is also in dialogue with a historic precinct around it.

I would urge the Dunedin City Council to include this building within a protected heritage precinct in Port Chalmers, and for the Otago Regional Council to also take note of this matter.

The protection of our historic heritage should not be relegated to an operational matter for Port Otago. I would request that board members reconsider in favour of preservation.

Andrea Hotere

Auckland

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