City Council Objects To Shopping Mall

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31167, 17 September 1966, Page 16

City Council Objects To Shopping Mall

Among more than 200 replies received by the Waimairi County Council in response to its request for comment on the proposal to establish a supermarket and shopping mall at 19-23 Memorial avenue is an objection from the Christchurch City Council.

The City Council, a partner with Waimairi in creating Memorial avenue, has objected, on the recommendation of its development committee, on the ground that the project would complicate the traffic movement on the avenue.

Although the closing date was Thursday, comments were still arriving at the Waimairi offices yesterday. They will go to the council’s town-planning committee, which will decide on a date for the public hearing of submissions. The W. J. Turner family

.partnership seeks consent to a specific departure to allow the building of the shopping centre, which would be on one and three-quarters of an acre of land with a frontage of 300 ft to Memorial avenue. Parking for 100 cars would be provided. The Turner family now has two grocery stores in the Fendalton road-Memorial avenueClyde road shopping block. This has been rezoned residential to fit plans to widen Fendalton road, and so far, the council has not announced an alternative site for the shopping centre. The county chairman (Mr O. C. Mitchell) said yesterday that the council had considered, in committee, a report from its town-planning officer (Mr M. R. Parker) on future policy regarding the location of shopping areas. No decision had been reached. Mr Mitchell, an opponent of the road widening scheme, has suggested an alternative proposal to move Fendalton road and Memorial avenue with a by-pass across Clyde road which would leave the present shops intact. He said yesterday that the council had declined a previous application from the Turner family for the Memorial avenue project. Few people seemed aware of the details of his alternative plan, which would avoid wholesale displacement of the existing shops. Most of the comments received by the council have been in favour of the Turner family application, but a council officer said many of the letters were in the form of a circular, issued at the Turner shops. This circular, reading: “I wish to have recorded my support for the proposal to establish a modern shopping centre at 19-23 Memorial avenue, on the grounds of public interest,” is not regarded by the council as very convincing evidence. Over the names of Messrs

W. J. and J. T. Turner, the family has also issued a circular, which points out that, for many years, the existing shops at Fendalton have not met completely the needs of customers, with the added difficulty of parking and access to the shops. The circular goes on to explain the new shopping centre proposal, and asks for public support. Points emphasised are: the need for shops in the area: the need for adequate offstreet parking; growing traffic hazards, partly because of the development of the university at Ham, which hamper safe and pleasant shopping: problems for trade vehicles loading and unloading: and the need for modern facilities in the “leading suburb” in Christchurch.