Council to 'petition' McDonald's

Fast-food giant McDonald's will be asked to consider Gore's Main St heritage before demolishing a building, estimated to be 100 years old, to make way for a new restaurant.

Gore district councillors, concerned Main St's historical character was slowly being lost, this week decided to "strongly petition" McDonald's to be sympathetic to the building's history.

The council has issued resource consent for the new $1 million restaurant at the southern end of Main St in the former Southland Farmers' Co-op building. Demolition and building consents were still being processed but there was nothing it could do to stop McDonald's tearing down the building if the company wanted to.

McDonald's communication manager Kate Porter said yesterday it was not appropriate to comment on the issue because the company had not been contacted by the council. However, the site had been bought on the basis the building could be demolished and it was permitted under the district plan, she said.

Eastern Southland Gallery curator Jim Geddes told this week's council meeting that researching the history of Gore's buildings was difficult because early council records were lost in two fires in the late 1950s.

The best estimate for the McDonald's building was that it was built between 1906 and 1908. It was not on the district plan heritage register, he said.

Buildings more than 100 years old were deemed archaeological sites and needed approval from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust to be altered or demolished.

Planning consultant Keith Hovell was unsure whether the onus fell on the trust to prove the building was 100 years old or McDonald's to prove it was not.

Mr Geddes said there were several first-floor facades, not on the district plan heritage register, that should be protected.

The council decided to review the heritage register and extend it to encompass the whole district.

- © Fairfax NZ News