Contractors were hard at work yesterday reducing the more than a century-old former Haynes House, at 284 Stuart St, to rubble.
It was built for Dunedin draper Alex Haynes and his family in 1919 as an interwar English Domestic Revival-style house, and was designed by architect Edmund Anscombe.
Dunedin city councillor Andrew Simms said the demolition was ‘‘incredibly sad’’.
‘‘I drive past there on the way to and from the council, and it’s a great deal of sadness to actually see the reality of it being torn down,’’ Cr Simms said.
‘‘I think the community fought as hard as they could to not have to come to this day — but it’s come.’’
Demolition of the heritage-listed house for development was first proposed by Elim Group in 2024, along with the removal of a protected lime tree.
Their plans attracted more than 100 submissions to the Dunedin City Council, most of them in opposition.
Elim Group eventually withdrew its original consent application, but later lodged a new application for a multi-unit development that would retain the significant tree.
Cr Simms, who submitted on the original proposal, said he understood the need for more quality housing in Dunedin.
‘‘But I think prominent historic buildings in prominent positions should be preserved as part of the character of Dunedin.
‘‘There were plenty of other vacant sites or alternative sites close to that one that could have been built on, and the developer could have achieved the same outcome on another site.’’
The site was barely a block away from the Octagon, he said.
‘‘I think you can see now what the loss to the streetscape is going to be.’’
Heritage advocate and developer Ted Daniels, who opposed the demolition, did not believe the resulting development would be ‘‘any good, really’’.
‘‘It’s a shame to lose something that also has special character to that area.’’
Edmund Anscombe was a well-known architect and there were many other empty sites available around Dunedin, Mr Daniels said.
‘‘We’ve already lost quite a bit of his structures.
‘‘I find that this one really didn’t have to go.’’
