Dunedin values its cultural heritage as a vital part of its history and identity, and for the contribution it makes to its communities’ sense of place.
It makes a key contribution to the Dunedin Strategic Framework vision: Dunedin is One of The World’s Great Small Cities.
Cultural heritage is also recognised as a key component of a well-functioning urban environment in the Future Development Strategy for Dunedin.
Dunedin’s cultural heritage goes much deeper than its built heritage, which includes the city’s large collection of commercial, residential and industrial Victorian, Edwardian and early 20th century buildings. It includes places of cultural significance for tangata whenua, archaeological sites, historic monuments, parks, gardens, museums, collections and artefacts. It also includes less tangible elements such as stories about people and places, which impact on our evolving understanding of the significance of where we live.
Dunedin’s cultural heritage is facing pressure from development of all scales. Whether a homeowner replacing their historic timber sash windows with aluminium, a heritage building being repurposed for a new use, or a heritage building or site being completely redeveloped. All these activities have an impact on the heritage values and character of the city, at the individual place level, the local area and collectively, the city itself.
The pages below have useful information for owners and advocates of Dunedin’s cultural heritage places, to help them understand what they have, their responsibilities under the District Plan, and sympathetically maintain and protect these finite and often fragile resources.
Dunedin City Council offers planning and heritage advice, financial incentives in the form of heritage grants, and information on the popular Dunedin Heritage awards.
If you’d like to keep in touch with the DCC’s heritage activities and latest updates, then please subscribe to City Development News.