Dunedin's new mayor Sophie Barker grew up in one of the cities most iconic locations, Larnach Castle. Image / File
Dunedin’s new mayor believes working in partnership with the city’s movers and shakers is key to turning the city into “a premier destination for our country”.
Sophie Barker was voted into Dunedin’s top job at last month’s local election following a tight contest with fellow candidate Andrew Simms, which she won by 726 votes.
In an interview with Newstalk ZB’s Real Life with John Cowan on Sunday night, Barker – who grew up in Dunedin’s historic Larnach Castle – said the city has to do a better job promoting itself.
“We want to be a premier destination for the country – we certainly have so much to offer our visitors,” she said.
“And [we want] to raise our profile and work on our economic development as well, because for a small city, we certainly need to power up and all work in partnership together to make us as fabulous as we can be.”
She said one of the keys to success would be joining forces with the institutions and people that make things happen in Dunedin.
“My key is to rebuild partnerships so that we can do things together. I’ve been contacting a lot of the people that get stuff done in the city – the university, our business community, the hospital, mana whenua – to try and get everyone to work together.
“We’ve got an amazing city, we just need to work in partnership.”
Pointing to its biggest drawcards as a tourist destination, Barker noted that Dunedin boasted Larnach Castle, New Zealand’s only castle; one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most-photographed buildings in its railway station; as well as the Royal Albatross Centre and the world’s rarest penguins.
“It’s a heritage and wildlife capital of New Zealand – and we’re extremely proud of that,” she told Real Life.
“Perhaps it’s a Presbyterian, Scottish thing where we just don’t skite – we need to get out there and be better at skiting and sharing and promoting our city, because we’re just a little bit backward in coming forward.”
Asked by Cowan how she deals with naysayers and those opposed to change, Barker said she’s a “really optimistic and positive person” and has learned to shake off criticism.
“I take it all with a grain of salt, because we have to have change in order to get things done. One of the things I stood on was transformation and change, so everyone’s been warned!” she laughed.
Barker points to Dunedin’s new cycleway along the harbour, which she says is getting heavy use and was featured on the cover of Air New Zealand’s Kia Ora magazine, as a case study of why it’s important to push change through, even amid local opposition.
“People always moan and groan about change, but the thing is that it’s actually lifting our profile,” she said.
“One of my goals is to make us the best place to live in New Zealand and work on our livability. And those are all important parts, because if we don’t do that work, then we go backwards. So we need to keep investing in our city…
“You need to have vision and you need to get things done, and it always is difficult. Look at our stadium: it was a huge issue and still a slight challenge, but we wouldn’t have had Ed Sheeran doing all those concerts.
“Or when there’s a big event happening, like the rugby that we won last week, the Otago game… just that amazing feeling when everybody stands up: those are the moments that we live for.”
Beyond improved infrastructure and economic growth, Barker says her number one priority remains the new Dunedin hospital, which has been plagued by uncertainty amid cost blowouts.
“We absolutely have to keep advocating for a hospital. We had the march of 35,000 in our city to get our hospital built to the business case and it is very important.
“I’m in an office at the moment for another couple of weeks and I can look out on to the hospital build site. I’ve still got the T-shirt, so we’re ready to march again if we have to. That is the number one issue for us.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Barker spoke about the personal cost of campaigning for Dunedin mayoralty, how she ended up in politics when it’s “not really my thing”, and why growing up in Larnach Castle was far less glamorous than people realise.
Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world. Tune in Sundays from 7.30pm on Newstalk ZB or listen to the latest full interview here.
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