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?
Do you have any comments about 231 Stuart Street?
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’m a local performing artist. I’ve performed in opera, musicals, and concerts at many venues around Dunedin for over 20 years, including those that have been the subject of recent discussion.
I want you to put the money for performing arts venues back in the budget. Removing that money is a betrayal of Dunedin’s long and strong history as an incubator for incredible artists and the creation of wonderful art. Performances draw people together, providing the opportunity to tell stories and share experiences that bring us closer. Perhaps now more than ever, society needs this.
If you do not back existing venues, they will close. The Playhouse Theatre will likely be closed within the next five years. When the places to make theatre disappear, the people who make it disappear. They look elsewhere for places that make the effort to support the arts. Once those people are gone they are very hard to get back, and with them goes the passion and years of experience that it takes to inspire and grow the next generation of performers.
This decision has impacts beyond the buildings. Theatre develops people. It creates community. People find inspiration and confidence in theatre that leads to a variety of careers, relationships, and opportunities.
I acknowledge that money is tight and that hard decisions must be made. Investing in these venues now is a decision that will pay off for Dunedin’s future.
Council has mucked around with this decision for years. The only reason there is a reasonable option on the table at the moment for venues is due to the work of community volunteers with minimal council support. They have done your job for you.
Yet, when reviewing councillors’ comments at the meeting on 10 December 2024, when the Dunedin Theatre Network proposal was discussed, it seems most Councillors do not understand the opportunity they are being presented with, or where it has come from.
Over successive years, Councillors have asked for more engagement, costings, strategy, plans, all of which have been delivered by community volunteers working in their own time. Yet, every time they come back, Council has found some further reason to defer making a decision.
The Dunedin Theatre Network, the Regent and Stage South’s work together ought to be lauded as the gold standard of community achievement. They have presented a workable solution to an issue that Council, with all the staff and resources at its disposal, has been unable to resolve and has shown negligible progress on despite the investment in the Charcoal Blue report.
Instead, Council has chosen to forgo the opportunity to achieve something lasting and important. Not only that, it has gutted any hope of investment in performing arts venues in the city.
By withdrawing funding, Council is deciding that it does not want these venues in its city and that it does not support the long tradition of the performing arts in Dunedin.
Support for Dunedin performing arts venues has now been delayed for so long that their survival is on the line. There is no further time for delay. I urge you to reconsider your position and put funding for performing arts venues back in the plan.
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: 1132235
Submitter name:
James Adams
Organisation