The North Dunedin Spatial Plan Project aims to ensure that there is enough housing for students in North D for the next thirty years. But that’s not just any housing – it’s housing that encapsulates what students want. Novel!
Organised by the City Development Team of the Dunedin City Council (DCC), the goal of this project isn’t for the DCC to do any of the actual building. Instead, the hopes are to use the student input to look into options and make sure “future decisions are based on real experiences, not assumptions.” The DCC wants to know what tauira value in their flats – whether that’s healthy home compliance, or an adequate balcony to do funnels off. Deputy Mayor Cherry Lucas, who is spearheading the project, was absolutely fizzing: “You don’t often get this opportunity to think and plan for thirty years ahead!”
Cherry envisions a rosy future where all student flats are “warm, and dry, and all of those good things”, and actually “did all meet the healthy homes standards.” Gone will be the days where students excuse the risk of pneumonia for a nice bay window – though Dunedin’s gothic, heritage infrastructure is something special. “We don’t want to lose that special character of Dunedin,” Cherry assured. “It’s balancing the new with the old.”
Cherry’s kids are students, so she’s been around the North D block, witnessing the “good, the bad and the ugly” of flatting. Speaking of the bad and the ugly, Cherry has a bone to pick with the supply and demand of the shitty housing stock. “If the students didn’t rent those hideous flats, that might help,” she said, hoping it might encourage some landlords to clean up their act. However, she understands that with steadily increasing rent prices, and not enough housing to go around, this isn’t a feasible option for most students – especially with how flustering the flat hunting season can be.
Once the team figures out what’s hip with the kids, they’ll propose a few different options that the Council can consider and present a report later in the year. As well as ākonga, the team are talking to developers, landlords, real estate agents, University and Polytech so that they can get a “real picture of what’s going on in that North Dunedin area.” A scary question at the best of times.
The project is focused mainly on the area between the hospital and the Botans, but you don’t have to be living in this area to give feedback. DCC staff will be on campus over the coming weeks to talk more about the project, and to encourage students to complete the survey. There was also talk of bribes in the form of chocolate fish. Yummy.
For more information on the project visit: dunedin.govt.nz/northd-spatial-plan
