PROPERTY BOUGHT FOR PARKING BUILDING

Press, Volume C, Issue 29588, 10 August 1961, Page 11

PROPERTY BOUGHT FOR PARKING BUILDING

The City Council has bought the tachfield street property formerly used as a bus depot by Midland Motorways Services. I/d., and proposes to build an off-street parking building on the 60perch site. Meanwhile, the area will be used to accommodate about 60 cars. The property was auctioned recently and passed in when the reserve was not reached. Council representatives attended the auction but did not bid, and negotiations were opened later. The price was not disclosed yesterday by Cr. H. P. Smith, chairman of the finance committee, when he announced the purchase. Before the negotiations were completed the council consulted land owners to investigate the purchase of Plymouth lane, over which the up-ramp to the proposed building would be built, and Wooff and Salvesen. Ltd, the owners of propertv over which part of the down spiral would be built. The proposal was to put a four-storeyed parking building on the site, but this

s could not be done immedit ateiy, Cr. Smith said. II t seemed likely that the conn- - cil would prefer to build a • parking building on the t Municipal Electricity Depart- - ment’s land on the "comer oi Manchester and Gloucestei 1 streets first. A shortage oi ? loan money precluded building both at once. The new building would be i not much more than a chain t from Cashel street in the - heart of the shopping area, i Cr. Smith said. “We appreci- • ate that if the heart of the • city is to be preserved there ■ must be provision for park- , ing buildings reasonably near . the shopping areas.’’ I Christchurch had not yel reached the stage where it ; would accept the exclusion oi I traffic from inner areas, al- . though the time would come . when shopping areas would > have to become “pedestrians' 1 malls” as they were overseas, [ he added.