Dunedin has much to lose if town planning goes wrong, writes Joanne Galer.
Almost unbelievable as this would have seemed 30 years ago, Dunedin's built heritage is now a valuable economic asset.
Our city's distinguished facade of historic grandeur is the most pronounced of any city in New Zealand, and firmly part of our appeal as a destination, both for our tourism industry, and as a place to call home.
It is time for the opportunities our historic urban streetscapes present to attract more of a different breed of developer, who see Dunedin as a beautiful and rare historic canvas that needs its faded colours touched up, rather than a brusque repaint.
So the Dunedin City Council's second-generation district plan (2GP) is therefore pivotal.
It will govern development in Dunedin for at least 10 years.
When we recently made submissions to the 2GP jointly, the Southern Heritage Trust and City Rise Up groups supported the plan's schedules of heritage buildings and precincts, and rules and guidelines for their protection.
Council staff have put laudable effort into trying to ensure our heritage vistas remain.
The plan thankfully proposes height restrictions in the industrial zone and greater flexibility so large heritage buildings in the city can be re-purposed.
One theme in the 2GP stands out: intensification - also referred to as infill housing, or higher-density development.
Thousands of Dunedin sections could be subdivided into smaller lots, in theory being able to load more and taller structures (up to 12m high for inner city residential) on to split-up sections.
Owners would be able to subdivide larger sections down to 200sq m sizes in the inner city residential (ICR) zone, and down to 300sq m in most of our suburbs that also have streets of properties where medium-density (infill) housing is proposed to be allowed (general residential 2 zone).
However, new rules governing height in relation to boundary of neighbours could still make such subdivision difficult on many hilly Dunedin sites.
Our submission gives heavily qualified support to new infill development, where there is a history of higher density - and where it has occurred ad hoc with few controls, for example properties bordering the inner city commercial zone.
The idea behind it is that the city needs to remain compact, rather than spread out, so infill housing caters to potential population growth, and seemingly lots of it.
However, only some parts of this ICR zone will have the gold-standard of protection from unsympathetic development within these higher-density areas.
This higher level of protection is reserved so far to selected proposed heritage precincts that are (commendably) dotted about the inner city.
The ICR zone stretches across the entire inner city beneath the Town Belt from the edge of the Southern Cemetery through to Woodhaugh in the north.
Visible from multiple vantage points in the city are the gables and turrets of scores of two-storey Victorian, Edwardian and Arts and Crafts-style residences, nestled in their established gardens, spaced consistently in terms of setback from the street, and creating the visual amenity early planning intended.
There are also early workers' cottages here.
Collectively, they form a backdrop to the main event - our fine historic churches, commercial and public buildings.
These streetscapes are the mark of an established and important city and have economic value attached to their strong amenity values.
Once they are lost or degraded, we lose economic pulling power.
Our hope is that much more of this ICR zone will be given the same or similar level of protection as heritage precincts when the plan is redrafted following hearings in March next year.
The Manor Pl and Russell St/Canongate areas; and the area in and around the mid-section of Queen St, for example, are just two areas we feel also potentially merit heritage precinct status.
Their special streetscape character does not differ greatly from the top of York Pl or High St, both of which are heritage precincts in the draft plan.
Keep in mind intensive development, or infill, is not prevented in such precincts either; the heritage precinct overlay simply provides greater control over what can be demolished, and the design of new structures or rebuilds, with strong focus on protecting facades.
A penchant for infill housing is also applied across most of our suburbs.
On the strength of possible strong future demand in retirement housing, infill is seen as the way to go for Dunedin and the plan reflects this.
Most of Northeast Valley - stretching from the Gardens to Watts Rd, both sides of the valley, could be "filled in'' with smaller townhouses or units.
This is a profound shift in suburban planning for the city, and, depending on the speed and housing quality, could significantly alter Dunedin's suburban look and feel, affecting character streetscapes, and meaning a reduction in green spaces and views as backyards are subdivided off, or stand-alone houses demolished to make way for intensive development.
While not opposed, our submission believes it would be wise for the council not to leap into this.
We seek further research to assess the environmental impacts on streetscape character of proposed infill housing areas, particularly (but not restricted to) the older and founding suburbs of NEV, Mornington and Caversham, and also Maori Hill, Roslyn, Opoho and St Clair.
Wellington's council has conducted character assessments when quite cautiously looking at intensification in its suburbs.
So far, these appear to be missing for Dunedin.
It should be possible to develop and provide for different sectors and age-groups while retaining character.
Many of the houses within the proposed ICR zone are large enough to be redeveloped into flats or smaller retirement units using existing footprints.
This is more challenging, but other heritage-minded cities in the world have shown this to be possible.
Careful design for new buildings, combined with strong planning rules protecting heritage, is more likely to benefit communities economically in the longer term than accommodating the desire for short-term gain following fickle housing trends.
Dunedin needs to tread carefully.
There is too much to lose if we don't.
● Joanne Galer is a trustee on the committee of the Southern Heritage Trust.
