I imagine we all have slightly different views on where the centre of our city is, but I expect for most that will be within the area from the Exchange to, say, St David St, and the blocks to the east, including the museum, the university, the hospital, the railway station, Toitu, the courthouse and the prison. Many would now also include the warehouse precinct.
The strongest contributor to that heart (especially noticeable now, as the students return) is our university. Dunedin is a compact and accessible city. Things are close by and mostly walkable. Nowhere is that more true than on the university campus, and the university should be congratulated for not only the quality of the courses it teaches, but also the beautiful campus that continues to evolve.
A key component of that campus is, of course, the medical precinct, the go-to place for health science students throughout the country. This is immediately next to our hospital, and undergoing major extension and improvement.
Dunedin residents enjoy our compactness and take it for granted. Visitors envy us for the human scale of our place, real shopping streets and beautiful buildings. We are fortunate indeed we escaped the destruction of the building boom that ruined much of Auckland and Wellington in the 1960s and 1970s and the poor planning that destroyed central Christchurch even before the earthquakes.
That compactness, the closeness of complementary activities and services, and good access by foot, bike, car and bus is what makes Dunedin work so well. Any threat to the cohesion is a very real concern, and that is why the city council last week agreed to approach the Government to ensure our new hospital (when they get around to it) remains in the central city area.
In addition to the common-sense location of hospital and medical school side by side, consider also the advantages for visitors, patients and staff of the central location and easy access to all the city has to offer.
Quite apart from the hospital construction, big things are already under way in the area.
The university projects include the new Dental School, a replacement research facility and redevelopment of the Business School. The Otago Polytechnic (which trains nurses) is building new student accommodation and the Department of Justice is restoring the courthouse in Stuart St. These are projects costing hundreds of millions of dollars that are all under way now.
In addition, the DCC, over the next few years, will spend about $37million on major street works in George St, and business and property owners all over the city are restoring and strengthening their buildings.
We all know too that cycleways are under construction on the central highways and the Otago Regional Council is establishing a bus-interchange in Great King St, just one block from the hospital.
So it makes no sense to even think about a hospital location away from the central city area. That is why we should be concerned, because site(s) outside the central area are still under consideration.
In a huge and expensive rebuild like this, cost will always be a factor and we know that when it comes to cost Treasury will provide advice. We also know that Treasury advice is often woefully inadequate, and for proof of that we need look no further than the advice it gave Cabinet opposing the redevelopment of our historic courthouse in Stuart St, suggesting among other things that the tower could be demolished to reduce the cost of the upgrade (ODT, 9.2.17).
So rely on the good sense of Treasury? I don't think so.
At the end of the day, a public campaign forced Cabinet to make the right decision about our courthouse. As a result of the involvement and support of the Dunedin and wider national and international community, a wonderful, iconic building is being returned to its proper use.
So, what did your city council say about the hospital rebuild? Last week we agreed to write to the Government, expressing a preference for the hospital to remain as close as possible to its current site and for no time to be wasted on alternative sites.
This has been communicated to the Prime Minister and Minister of Health and copied to Dunedin members of Parliament, the Chancellor and Vice-chancellor of the university and the Southern Health Partnership. The council also agreed to enlist the support of a wide range of community organisations and agencies to keep the hospital centrally located.
I know we will all be interested in the response. Let's hope common sense prevails. In any case, this issue is too important to our collective future to accept anything other than a rebuild of our hospital in the central city, most logically, as is now the case, adjacent to the Medical School and campus, close to services, shops, transport and accommodation.
Cities are organic things. Each activity supports and sustains others. Pardon the medical allusion, but shifting the hospital away from the city centre would be like removing a vital organ.
David Benson-Pope, a University of Otago graduate, was a cabinet minister in the Clark government and is a Dunedin city councillor.
