The Dunedin City Council has contracted workers to remove various wilding pine trees from the bank behind the former Stevenson & Cook Foundry building in Port Chalmers in order to allow geotechnical engineers to carry out a detailed assessment of the bank.
The council said the work would take about a week to complete depending on weather conditions.
‘‘The tree removal and geotechnical assessment is part of the council’s commitment to support the Port Chalmers Foundry Trust’s plans to redevelop the historic site into a multi-use arts and community space.’’
Once the trees were cleared, engineers would be on site to make an assessment of the bank to decide whether any stabilisation would be required — planning was already underway for this step.
‘‘The original Stevenson & Cook Foundry, also known as the Sims building, was constructed at Beach St in 1880, with an additional section later built in the 1930s.’’
A memorandum of understanding between the council and the trust was signed in 2022 to secure the future conservation and refurbishment of the heritage site.
As part of that agreement the council said they were committed to remediating the site and to stabilising the bank.
—Allied Media
