Submission
9 year plan feedback
Should we remove 231 Stuart Street (formerly the Fortune Theatre) from the list of strategic assets in the DCC Significance and Engagement policy?
Yes, remove 231 Stuart Street from the list of strategic assets (this is our preferred option)
Do you have any comments about 231 Stuart Street?
If removed, any profits from this sale should be used to fill the gap that the Fortune Theatre left by investing in performing arts infrastructure.
Should we charge an entry fee of $20 (incl. GST) for international visitors aged 16 and over, at Toitū and Dunedin Public Art Gallery?
Do you have any comments about the entry fee for international visitors?
Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
I wish to comment on the exclusion of further funding/action on a performing arts venue in the city. It is disappointing that after a number of years of hard work this project is being abandoned. There is already a shortage of performance venues in the city and a number of them, such as the Playhouse, are at risk of closing without further investment - at this point a lack of action is as good as condemning them. I understand that Te Whare o Rukutia, a venue created to temporarily fill the gap, is also no longer being funded. At this point, venues are at risk of being lost with no plan to replace them. This 9 year plan proposes further spending to attract outside artists and big names to the stadium, but shows no care for the perhaps smaller name but no less talented local practitioners - how can we expect our own voices to be heard if we do provide a space to amplify them? How can we expect the work of local creatives to be valued in a wider, perhaps more profitable sense if their own council does not value them enough to support them?
This is a difficult time for so many of us, so I understand that there are many priorities and challenges that the DCC is having to account for. This being said, I would urge them to take a more proactive and future-minded approach by continuing at the least some commitment to the arts, particularly theatre, in this city - if we do not act now to protect and bolster what we have, we will find it a much harder job to rekindle the flame once it has burnt out. Local groups such as Stage South and the Performing Arts Group have been advocating for DCC to adopt an action plan for the industry, as has been done for live music. They suggest the short term solutions of continued support for Te Whare o Rukutia; the continuation and eventual growth of the annual Professional Theatre Fund; financial investment in The Playhouse infrastructure to ensure it stays open. Mid to long term action points include further support for the development of the Playhouse and Athenaeum spaces, as well as support for a purpose built community performing arts centre. I reference their suggestions as people with a wide range of experience and knowledge in this industry, as well as being one of the key stakeholder groups that the 9 Year plan states the council wishes to work with.
Ōtepoti is a city that over the years has strived to celebrate creativity and culture in its many different forms and it would be a terrible shame to lose that. Again, I acknowledge that the DCC is having to balance many issues impacting our city at a time when living is an expensive and difficult time for many (dare I say most). But labelling performing arts as a "nice to have" that cannot be afforded right now is a simplification that fails to address how a lack of support right now impacts our ability to have it at all in the future. When times are good again, you will not be able to simply turn around and say "okay, here is your venue now", because the community will have left for work elsewhere or had to give it up due to lack of support, though absolutely not for lack of trying - the practitioners who create and perform the work, the producers and technicians who bring it to life, the teachers who can pass that knowledge (the knowledge of how to tell our stories) to future generations. Audience members will lose out on the vast range of experiences that are provided to them by local performers, as well as suffering from a loss of depth to events that attract international performances - for what would events like the Dunedin Fringe Festival and Dunedin Arts Festival be without the solid foundation of local performers, experts and volunteers who give their time to run these festivals that bring so much vibrancy to the city? Even if belts must be tightened in harder times, I would argue that this is not a "nice to have" but a key part of Dunedin's character and culture, and as such should be treated as an important consideration in any longterm planning.
Local Water Done Well feedback
Which water services delivery model do you support?
Why did you choose this option?
Do you have any other feedback related to the proposed water services delivery models?
Supporting information
No associated documents with this submission.
Submitter
Submission id number: 1130412
Submitter name:
Amy Wright
Organisation