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?
Clearly the former Fortune Theatre is dilapidated and no longer fit for purpose, and should be sold with the profits being used to finance an appropriate replacement theatre with at least 200-300 seats to provide the mid-tier venue that the city desperately needs.
Should we charge an entry fee of $20 (incl. GST) for international visitors aged 16 and over, at Toitū and Dunedin Public Art Gallery?
Yes, introduce an entry fee of $20 (incl. GST) (this is our preferred option)
Do you have any comments about the entry fee for international visitors?
Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
I have been working in professional theatre, drama education and performing arts governance in New Zealand for over 40 years, including nearly a decade teaching theatre studies at the University of Otago. I am grateful to have been employed at the Fortune Theatre on several occasions, and was distressed by its abrupt closure in 2018. I want to express my dismay at the news that the $17.1 million dollars set aside for a new professional theatre in Dunedin has been removed from the council’s budget. Dunedin has a proud theatrical history stretching back to the mid 19th century and has produced some of New Zealand’s leading theatre artists and performing arts teachers. The city’s proud, long-standing reputation as one of Aotearoa’s leading centres for music, theatre and dance is now seriously under threat. Currently the city’s theatrical infrastructure is crumbling and there appears to have been no serious effort to provide the city with a modern, suitably equipped mid-tier theatre venue, similar to those provided in every city and almost every small town in New Zealand. For example, I recently attended performances of the Wairarapa Arts Festival at the Carterton Events Centre, a modern, purpose built, multifunctional, environmentally sustainable performance venue that seats up to 350 people. Carterton’s population is only 5,000. I note also the impressive, world-class auditorium in Te Pou Ō Mata-Au in Balclutha that seats up to 450 people. I find it implausible that a city the size of Dunedin could not build a similar facility to benefit the many performing arts groups in the city that are crying out for such a venue. It is a matter of urgency for the Dunedin City Council to make a commitment to replacing the Fortune with a new, centrally-located, purpose-built building that could host a professional theatre company, community performances and become a dynamic hub for the arts community. The Fortune Theatre was a vital part of New Zealand’s arts network that provided multiple benefits to local audiences and theatre practitioners, as well as to the nationwide theatre eco-system. The delay in making a decision about a new theatre is unacceptable and shows a complete lack of vision and leadership in the council. I urge the council to seize the initiative, consult in a meaningful way with the local performing arts community, research performing arts venues elsewhere in the country, and to use the sale of the Fortune Theatre as the impetus to build a new, environmentally sustainable performing arts venue that will make the city proud and lead it into the future.
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?
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Submission id number: 1132682
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