Hill sections checked for safety

Press, 16 September 1976, Page 6

Hill sections checked for safety

Since January, the,' North Canterbury Catchment Board has; “vetted” 40 applications | for subdivisions or ■ building permits on Port i Hills land, to make sure I that sections are not at risk from slipping or j subsidence. Anyone who wants to ex-j ovate or fill land on the Port Hills or Cashmere Hills; must first get the board’s; approval. Without this, a building permit will not be, issued. The board’s control applies; only in the Christchurch City; Council and Paparua and i Heathcote counties, which I are in the board's district for | soil conservation control. > The same service could bei given at Lyttelton if the Lyt-' telton Borough Council chose j to avail itself of the board’s! soil conservation services. ; The board’s soil conservator (Mr R. D. Dick) explained how the board worked on the city side of the hills, working in conjunction with the three councils and the

.Christchurch Drainage Board, i “Any person who wishes to. excavate or fill for a house j site, a drive or drainage, or I a subdivider, must apply to i :the board, which administers Section 34 of the Water i and Soil Conservation Act,” .said Mr Dick. : “When we get an application, we confer with the Appropriate council, mainly, so far, the city or Heathcote, land they-suggest to us any • special conditions they feel I are necessary. “We also discuss the application with the Drainage Board, which is concerned with discharge into culverts, or drainage channels, and with the possibilities of .erosion leading silt into the (drainage system, or the i Heathcote River. ; “The councils are mainly > I concerned with buildings, and . the problem on the hills usu- . j ally arises from proposals to J excavate or create embankments. We can help with .j advice as to a better locaIjtion for a house on "a parJticular section.” ’ | With subdivision, particu- - j larly the larger ones, the ? catchment board had in some t eases required the developers

to prepare part of the land and not proceed with the rest until the first part had been grassed, and had consolidated, Mr Dick said. The board had a good picture of the nature of the land from an extensive survey of teh hill slopes, Mr Dick said. This information was on a map, showing the risk categories of the land.

“It would repay anyone intending to build on the hills to consult this map,” said Mr Dick. “This has become standard practice for surveyors and subdividers, for it enables them to locate, the best places to have the subdivisional roads, and erosionfree house sites.

“So far, no problems have arisen in this work, and appreciation is growing of its value in preserving the hills from risky developments. It is a safeguard, a form of insurance, for the prospective home owner.

“There have been some bad cases in the past of incorrect use of land on the hills. We have received every co-operation from the local bodies concerned in our efforts to see that these mistakes are not repeated.”