Transport plan attacked

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32522, 4 February 1971, Page 12

Transport plan attacked

The whole Christchurch City Council master transport scheme was invalid, Mr C. B. Atkinson submitted to the No. 1 Town and Country Planning Appeal Board yesterday.

Mr Atkinson said the council had failed to follow the requirements of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1953, when it published its review scheme and transport scheme in November, 1968. There was no provision, he said, for the transport scheme to be “tacked” on to the review scheme. Obviously the Legislature had not intended to have three schemes —proposed, operative and review—running at the same time. The act, said Mr Atkinson, made it clear that the transport section could not be contrary to the current operative scheme. As the Christchurch City Council transportation scheme was based on the planning data in the review scheme, it was contrary to the Christchurch operative district scheme. And under section 20 (2) of the act, where there was a conflict, the operative schema had to prevail, said Mr Atkin son. If his submission was accepted then the transport scheme was invalid.

[So far the Christchurch City Council’s town-planning committee has held more than 140 days of hearing objections against the council’s transport scheme and review scheme. If Mr Atkinson’s submissions are upheld,

many of .these hearings will become irrelevant.]

Mr Atkinson was appearing, with Mr I. J. D. Hall, on behalf of Cyclone Industries (N.Z.), Ltd, which is appealing against the council’s refusal to permit subdivision of its property in Montreal Street, and is asking that the council be required to amend the siting of the proposed bridge over Moorhouse Avenue so that the bridge access does not prevent access to the Montreal Street entrance of its property. It was also submitted by Mr Atkinson that, if it were held that the transport scheme was not invalid and was part of a proper review scheme, then the council had still acted wrongly as it had refused the appellant’s application to subdivide under the wrong section of the Town and Country Planning Act. Evidence heard Colin Chisholm Lamb, an architect, and Murray Francis Woods, general manager of

the Cyclone company, said in evidence that the complex of buildings on the Montreal Street site had been designed so that large raw materials and large finished products could be handled only through the Montreal Street entrance.

The older buildings on the Wilmer Street frontage were not large enough to accommodate 30ft lengths of steel and such products as containers measuring 20ft by Bft by Bft; and their construction was not strong enough for heavy weights to be handled from the roof trusses. Under cross - examination by Mr W. R. Lascelles (for the council), Mr Lamb agreed that modification of the buildings to permit the use of Wilmer Street was possible, but said it could only be done at great cost. The board comprising Messrs A. R. Turner, S.M., (chairman), A. E. Kennard, G. R. Tutt and R. S. Martin—reserved its decision.