New Urban Areas On Halswell Hills

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32018, 19 June 1969, Page 18

New Urban Areas On Halswell Hills

The Paparua County Council’s long-term proposal was that the hill slopes on Worsleys Spur and Kennedy’s Bush Spur should become true urban suburbs, said Miss Nancy Northcroft, townplanning consultant to the council, yesterday.

Miss Northcroft was explaining the rural R zoning of the lower slopes of the hills along the eastern edge of the Paparua district. She told those attending a hearing Of objections to the Halswell section of the scheme that the council’s immediate proposal was to permit a form of semiurban development

The Worsleys Spur zone comprised 600 acres between Worsleys Road and Hoon Hay Valley Road, and the Kennedys Bush Spur zone comprised 540 acres extending from Cashmere Road through to Old Tai Tapu Road. Semi-urban development of those blocks—the provision of spacious sites in a rural atmosphere—would help to meet a demand much of which was now being met at the expense of good farming land, Miss Northcroft said. It would also act as a form of staged development in the transition from rural farmland to urban suburb. Ordinances for the zones controlled future subdivision and were designed to ensure that services would not be extended prematurely and that there should be no danger to health or amenities from either flooding or the disposal of liquid or other wastes. Miss Northcroft said that the land concerned had already been substantially sub-

divided, and the land had no high potential for agricultural production. The climate was more equable than on the fiat, building sites would not slope as steeply as on hills nearer the sea, and the situation provided uninterrupted views across the plains to the Alps. She said that Worsleys Spur adjoined an existing city urban area and was seen as a logical extension of that area. There were already 41 houses in the zone and the Education Board was considering building a new school within the zone.

The Kennedys Bush Spur zone was centred on an existing residential area of 70 houses, and was a quarter of a mile south of the Halswell township. Extension of services would not present a problem. In both cases, the form of development envisaged was of a rural-residential nature and essentially low density in character. The main opponents of the

rural R zoning at yesterday’s hearing were the Christchurch Drainage Board and the Regional Planning Authority.

Mr H. P. Hunt, deputy chief engineer of the Drainage Board, urged the council not to permit urban development too far in advance of the possibility of providing sewerage and drainage facilities. This would create a demand which could not be met. Mr Hunt said the hill soils were unsuitable for septic tanks and there was also the danger of effluent being carried away by under-runners, causing health and nuisance problems. Mr F. S. Robinson, planning officer of the Regional Planning Authority, said that although the zones were outside the authority’s area, it was concerned about the possible effect on the regional scheme as a whole. Close settlement there would create a demand for close settlement inside the area.