Historic Places Canterbury Chair Mark Gerrard interviewed on RNZ "Afternoons with Jessie Mulligan":
Topics covered include the demolition of the Upper Riccarton War Memorial Library, the building is the Memorial, the importance of heritage, adaptive reuse and why we have and should be protecting our World War Two memorial halls.
The Christchurch City Council and it's Christchurch Libraries have a site called canturburystories.nz.
Whilst funded by the Christchurch City Council it is not restricting itself to Christchurch with material from Selwyn, Waimakareirei and Timaru posted on the site.
We will provide more details and contacts.
They are looking for images to scan and post along with stories (PDF etc) on the site.
We'll keep you posted!
A copy of the Historic Places Aotearoa "Submission to Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage Draft Policy for Government Management of Cultural Heritage" can be downloaded at the following link:
The following is the text of an article by Elizabeth Pishief that appeared in Oculus (September 2021).
I was part of a working group of HPA and ICOMOS New Zealand members that prepared a joint submission to the Environment Committee Inquiry on the ‘exposure draft’ of the Natural and Built Environments Bill (NBE Bill) and the associated parliamentary paper.
This bill is intended to replace the Resource Management Act 1991, which no longer adequately protects the natural or cultural environment while allowing for appropriate development.
We collectively believe cultural heritage in its many forms (eg, archaeological sites, cultural landscapes, buildings, objects, wāhi tapū, and wāhi tūpuna places) provides an understanding of New Zealand’s development, and the sense of place and connection between people and their environment that contribute to individual and national wellbeing. We think that replacing ‘historic heritage’ with the term ‘cultural heritage’ better reflects the breadth of our current and evolving heritage including intangible heritage such as sacred mountains and recent built heritage like post-war/early modernist buildings. It is crucial Parliament hears how ordinary people and communities value cultural heritage.
(more…)The following is the text of an article, that appeared in the September Oculus (2021) authored by Felicity Wong, providing an overview of the HPA Submission. (Felicity Wong is the Historic Places Wellington Chair and is a recent HPA Exec Member.)
HPA made a submission on government's draft “General Policy on Housing and Urban Development (GPS-HUD). The policy will “communicate the long-term vision for [the] housing and urban development system, and how Government will work with others to make it happen.”
It was, therefore, disappointing the policy neither mentioned built heritage nor reflected the value of heritage buildings in the context of urban development. HPA submitted that: Heritage buildings are important for urban wellbeing, and provide an important sense of identity and place. Heritage buildings are critical to maintaining wellbeing and identity, and memory.
In our view, heritage buildings are good for association and connection with towns and cities and in creating liveable places. They layer architectural interest and beauty within our urban fabric for many to enjoy.
HPA recognised the need for an increase in affordable housing supply, and supported the policy direction towards increased government building programmes and density in appropriate places.
We drew the Government’s attention to the role that repurposing and reusing heritage buildings can play in increasing housing supply.
