Planners and public need to study zoning faults

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34021, 9 December 1975, Page 19

Planners and public need to study zoning faults

Some parts of Christchurch zoning laws have worked well—perhaps too well, city planners claim.

Other parts have not lived up to expectations, and it is up to the planners — and the public, if they are willing to help — to find out why and correct deficiencies during the 1977 district scheme review. “It’s incredible,” the assistant city planner (Mr W. T. Williams) said of the attempt to spur “natural” urban development by grading residential densities outward from the city centre. That way, decaying homes should be the first to be pulled down and replaced with apartment projects that

can handle more people who want to live close to work or the shopping and entertainment facilities available in the inner city. “It is almost a new city within an old city,” Mr Williams said of widespread new residential building spreading as far as St Albans in the concentrated inner area.

“But it would be nice if a lot of older places could remain,” he said. “The Government’s lending policy is against that. It is hard to get money to refurbish or buy older houses.” Almost 5000 new residential units have been built near the central city since 1957, replacing about 1500 old buildings. Some of those older buildings may have remained to

be renovated. But the City Council had to make a choice. If they had outlawed widespread flat developments, many buildings

may have been converted to flats when they should have been torn down. Redevelopment has proved a headache in some cases, where planners feel the wrong areas are being renovated at the expense of other neighbourhoods which need the development more. Revised zoning provisions

have not slowed redevelopment and shifted it to the more needy areas to any great extent.

For example, Sydenham was zoned Residential 4 — which would allow more multi-unit residential projects — because of its large area of old housing and a slow rate of urban renewal. Extensive employment opportunities were also available in Sydenham, and workers could Jive near them. Merivale zoning Merivale was zoned for low to medium-density residential development to slow the rate of buildings being tom down — which had not outlived their usefulness in many cases — to be replaced by apartments or ownership flats. The theory was that development would move to areas such as Sydenham, which needed the injection of new housing. But the expected shift has not happened — “only a little bit,” Mr Williams said — and it was possible that the 1977 scheme review would cut back areas that were redeveloping too rapidly. Planners have to tread softly in such an area. It is difficult to shut out builders from one district and require them to go elsewhere when the market demands that they build only on certain attractive sites. “I don’t think It is wise to make drastic and sudden changes,” Mr Williams said. “Otherwise, people lose confidence in the scheme. Their security is affected." One of the most complex puzzles facing the City Council is how to comply with suggestions that the central business district should employ up to a certain number of people, and no more. Many councillors, and planners, think the puzzle’s pieces just will not fit.

The Canterbury Regional Planning Authority, in its recent second transport study, recommended that central city employment should not exceed 60,000 people, a threshold it is rapidly approaching. Otherwise, the study said, controversial motorway developments in the inner city might still be needed. But planners admit it is likely that continued pressure to expand the central business designation will come during the 1977 review. They also see the need to redevelop many buildings that are becoming too old and unsightly, and too prone to earthquakes. The City Engineer (Mr P. G. Scoular) has told the City Council that it may not be possible to put the brakes on central city employment at all, and it would be impractical to put a complete halt to growth. Only 25 per cent of the floor space in Commercial 4 and 5 zones has been built or strengthened since 1935. Tearing down buildings and putting up new ones could provide even more space for workers.

Growth rates indicate that central city employment could reach 60,000 by 1986. ' According to city officials, about two-thirds of central business district buildings should be redeveloped during the next 30 or 40 years from a safety standpoint alone. The creation of Cashel and High Street shopping malls, for pedestrians only, will also create the need for redevelopment of buildings near the malls. Somehow, the mall design must fit in with streets that have always been used by motor vehicles. Ordinary city centre streets have a “tunnel effect” for pedestrians. If a mall is not made as attractive as possible for shoppers, it is liable to become more a curiosity than a viable economic project.

This is the third and final article in a series by STAN DARLING, on planning and zoning in Christchurch.