Council advocates for Ōamaru's unique heritage

Published on 07 September 2026

Whitestone says Ōamaru. Quarried locally and shaped by generations of craftsmanship, it gives our Whitestone Precinct its unmistakable character which is reflected across out town and creates the powerful sense of place people experience when they visit. For more than 150 years, Ōamaru’s limestone buildings have reflected the town’s ambition, resilience and community pride. From the grand streetscape to the historic harbour, Whitestone helps make Ōamaru feel uniquely Ōamaru.

That defining character must be protected. Last week, Waitaki District Council hosted representatives from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), taking a clear case directly to decision-makers: as the Government updates legislation relating to earthquake standards, it must recognise the special significance of the Whitestone Precinct and ensure these irreplaceable buildings remain part of Ōamaru’s identity and future.

Dr Mark Smith, Waitaki District Council’s Heritage Advisor, led MBIE representatives on a whistle-stop tour of Lower Thames Street and the Victorian Precinct. Walking among some of the country’s finest Victorian buildings made clear what is at stake: earthquake settings must protect people while preserving the architecture, character and sense of place that make the Whitestone Precinct such an important expression of Ōamaru.

“There’s a reason Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is considering our town and port as a National Historic Landmark. You simply cannot find a better collection of preserved examples of this architecture anywhere else in the country.

Waitaki District Council has been working with owners of our built heritage such as the Ōamaru  Whitestone Civic Trust for decades supporting their work to preserve, adaptively re-use and maintain our magnificent Harbour Precinct streetscape.

That includes advocating to the Government when legislation might not have considered all that we have in Waitaki. We were delighted to help MBIE’s representatives appreciate the likely potential consequences of the proposed Bill. I am grateful to them for taking the time to visit, outline the Bill as much as possible and listen to us in turn.”

Brent Cunningham, Waitaki District Building Services Manager, said “The proposed legislation moves away from the current broad 34% NBS approach towards a more targeted, risk-based system. That is a positive direction, particularly where it allows building owners to address the specific parts of a building that present a genuine life-safety risk rather than requiring extensive strengthening simply to achieve a numerical rating.

We therefore need to make sure the new system works in practice for places like Ōamaru, where we have an unusually large and nationally significant concentration of historic unreinforced masonry buildings.”

ENDS

media@waitaki.govt.nz