Post by NZBC on Jun 10, 2007 21:02:56 GMT 12
Wednesday, 1st February 2006
Calculations that ratepayers may need to contribute $500,000 a year to maintain Dunedin¡¯s proposed Chinese garden have made city councillors nervous.
They know the concept of a tranquil central city oasis is difficult to justify when ratepayers are facing enormous financial pressures to pay for vital infrastructure and amenity upgrades.
Water and sewage treatment upgrades can be sold as necessities, but many see a Chinese garden as a luxury.
Even the man who floated the idea in 1997 concedes the running costs have him worried.
¡°It is worrying to myself as a citizen. It is such an enormous amount,¡± Dr James Ng said this week.
But he still considers the garden worth continuing with, because of its tourism potential, and because of the links it will build with Dunedin¡¯s sister city, Shanghai.
Dunedin¡¯s Chinese garden grew out of a tiny seed of an idea: would not an authentic garden be an appropriate way to remember and celebrate the Cantonese who travelled to Otago in the 1850s, first to dig for gold and later to establish themselves as market gardeners, manufacturers and merchants?
The project had its beginnings in 1997, when Dr Ng headed a committee planning Chinese activities for Dunedin¡¯s 150th anniversary celebrations in 1998.
The plan was modest, he said.
¡°A small garden was planned as a monument to the Chinese people. It was to be in the spirit of a gift from the Chinese community . . . Dunedin has always been a very open and friendly city to the Chinese and this was to be a gift to repay that friendship.¡±
A trust was formed and a fundraising target of $2 million set.
Then council chief executive Murray Douglas offered the trust several pieces of vacant councilowned land, including the car park behind the Otago Settlers Museum. The trust decided that would be an appropriate site and the council agreed to gift the land.
The fundraising target seemed achievable, Dr Ng said.
¡°At first, we never thought about how the garden would be maintained and who would pay for it. Later, we thought we would have a surplus out of fundraising which could go towards the maintenance. We thought we would have a vigorous friends of the garden group which would help too.¡±
Auckland architect Bruce Young was commissioned to design a garden. The opening date was to be 2001.
Then, a surprising offer was made. A visiting Shanghai historian was so impressed with the plans for a ¡°corner of the motherland¡± in Dunedin he offered help from the highest authorities.
While the offer from the Shanghai Construction and Decoration Group to oversee the garden¡¯s design and build its structures in Shanghai has been welcomed, it has also brought with it more costs and delays.
Mr Young¡¯s design was amended to create a more authentic 17th century garden. The proposed site was expanded from 0.2ha to 0.6ha. The cost of the project also grew. The exact cost still has not been finalised, and the contribution from Shanghai likely to be a discount on the total construction costs is still unknown.
Even Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin, who also chairs the Dunedin Chinese Gardens Trust, says working with Shanghai has been a delicate process, although the pace has quickened since a memorandum of understanding was signed last year.
Dr Ng, who was a member of the gardens trust until he resigned last year because of ill health, said Shanghai¡¯s involvement was the key element which would place Dunedin¡¯s garden head and shoulders above others.
Once completed, it will be the only authentic Chinese garden in the southern hemisphere and the third outside China.
¡°The Shanghai people are very experienced and they will do this for us on a favoured basis because of the friendships between our two cities. What is being planned would be impossible without Shanghai.¡±
The running cost figures were ¡°stark¡±, Dr Ng said, and could be reduced.
¡°There are all sorts of possibilities which have not been raised yet. We could have voluntary staff members; we could have hire charges.¡±
Mr Chin is a champion of the project and particularly does not like publicity he considers could affect the trust¡¯s (and council¡¯s) ability to secure grants or work with Shanghai.
The garden will happen, he says. The site has been chosen, grants promised and the deal secured with Shanghai. His desire is for the garden to at least be started before his first term as mayor ends in October 2007.
Calculations that ratepayers may need to contribute $500,000 a year to maintain Dunedin¡¯s proposed Chinese garden have made city councillors nervous.
They know the concept of a tranquil central city oasis is difficult to justify when ratepayers are facing enormous financial pressures to pay for vital infrastructure and amenity upgrades.
Water and sewage treatment upgrades can be sold as necessities, but many see a Chinese garden as a luxury.
Even the man who floated the idea in 1997 concedes the running costs have him worried.
¡°It is worrying to myself as a citizen. It is such an enormous amount,¡± Dr James Ng said this week.
But he still considers the garden worth continuing with, because of its tourism potential, and because of the links it will build with Dunedin¡¯s sister city, Shanghai.
Dunedin¡¯s Chinese garden grew out of a tiny seed of an idea: would not an authentic garden be an appropriate way to remember and celebrate the Cantonese who travelled to Otago in the 1850s, first to dig for gold and later to establish themselves as market gardeners, manufacturers and merchants?
The project had its beginnings in 1997, when Dr Ng headed a committee planning Chinese activities for Dunedin¡¯s 150th anniversary celebrations in 1998.
The plan was modest, he said.
¡°A small garden was planned as a monument to the Chinese people. It was to be in the spirit of a gift from the Chinese community . . . Dunedin has always been a very open and friendly city to the Chinese and this was to be a gift to repay that friendship.¡±
A trust was formed and a fundraising target of $2 million set.
Then council chief executive Murray Douglas offered the trust several pieces of vacant councilowned land, including the car park behind the Otago Settlers Museum. The trust decided that would be an appropriate site and the council agreed to gift the land.
The fundraising target seemed achievable, Dr Ng said.
¡°At first, we never thought about how the garden would be maintained and who would pay for it. Later, we thought we would have a surplus out of fundraising which could go towards the maintenance. We thought we would have a vigorous friends of the garden group which would help too.¡±
Auckland architect Bruce Young was commissioned to design a garden. The opening date was to be 2001.
Then, a surprising offer was made. A visiting Shanghai historian was so impressed with the plans for a ¡°corner of the motherland¡± in Dunedin he offered help from the highest authorities.
While the offer from the Shanghai Construction and Decoration Group to oversee the garden¡¯s design and build its structures in Shanghai has been welcomed, it has also brought with it more costs and delays.
Mr Young¡¯s design was amended to create a more authentic 17th century garden. The proposed site was expanded from 0.2ha to 0.6ha. The cost of the project also grew. The exact cost still has not been finalised, and the contribution from Shanghai likely to be a discount on the total construction costs is still unknown.
Even Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin, who also chairs the Dunedin Chinese Gardens Trust, says working with Shanghai has been a delicate process, although the pace has quickened since a memorandum of understanding was signed last year.
Dr Ng, who was a member of the gardens trust until he resigned last year because of ill health, said Shanghai¡¯s involvement was the key element which would place Dunedin¡¯s garden head and shoulders above others.
Once completed, it will be the only authentic Chinese garden in the southern hemisphere and the third outside China.
¡°The Shanghai people are very experienced and they will do this for us on a favoured basis because of the friendships between our two cities. What is being planned would be impossible without Shanghai.¡±
The running cost figures were ¡°stark¡±, Dr Ng said, and could be reduced.
¡°There are all sorts of possibilities which have not been raised yet. We could have voluntary staff members; we could have hire charges.¡±
Mr Chin is a champion of the project and particularly does not like publicity he considers could affect the trust¡¯s (and council¡¯s) ability to secure grants or work with Shanghai.
The garden will happen, he says. The site has been chosen, grants promised and the deal secured with Shanghai. His desire is for the garden to at least be started before his first term as mayor ends in October 2007.