New growth plans sets Canterbury guidelines

Press, 8 December 1976, Page 12

New growth plans sets Canterbury guidelines

A more intense use of urban Christchurch, a limited expansion for existing towns and major urban development for selected towns are the main guidelines in the Canterbury Regional Planning Authority’s indicative plan. The authority accepted the plan at its meeting yesterday, thus setting the form of planning to be adopted in producing, perhaps in two years’ time, a town and country planning scheme for the authority’s district, between the Ashley and Wairriakariri Rivers.

The indicative plan discusses alternatives, and

says that the authority will seek public discussion in the course of preparing the regional scheme, and that comments on the proposals in the indicative plan will be welcome. The indicative plan does not set population limits, but does say that while in theory urban Christchurch could accommodate many times the present population of 275,000, it is likely to be between 330,000 and 360,000 or more. The plan also notes that the authority’s second transport study concluded that the transport solution to the growth of the city would be to keep the population below 400,000. Immediate urban growth, the plan says, should be on land now zoned and committed for urban use at Christchurch. Rangiora. Kaiapoi and Woodend. As this growth should be limited, planning must begin immediately to allow existing settlements southwest of Christchurch but distinctly separated from it to expand along the line of the Main South Road, and take 25 per cent of regional growth in the next 10 years. The plan says that an analysis of growth pressures, natural attractions

and constraints shows that this sector, along the

north-south transport axis, best aids balanced regional growth, including the longterm development of Ashburton. The development may include some of the Rolleston new town land. Growth at this stage is expected to be modest, to say about 10,000 people. The new idea, the plan says, is not the same as the city of 60,000 or more people as seen by the Government in 1973 as a single counter-magnet to Christchurch.

Urban development in the south-west, the planners say, offers a stepping stone for more widely dispersed longterm growth in such places as Darfield, Dunsandel, Rakaia and Ashburton.

“Careful policies” must be prepared for Lincoln, Tai Tapu, Leeston, Dunsandel, Kirwee and Darfield in the preparation of the authority’s regional scheme. Outside the authority’s district, policies for the future growth of Ashburton and Amberley must be considered with the councils involved, but the plan does not see other towns as likely to face significant development pressure in the next few years. The containment of

urban Christchurch is seen as essential to achieving its redevelopment and consolidation, and though there will be demands for urban expansion, over-growth must be avoided, and policies to stimulate growth elsewhere must be framed as soon as possible. In explaining why it does not argue an optimum size for the city, the plan says that rather, it reflects concern at the imbalance and loss of resources that can result, and the need to keep planning options open. Immediately round Christchurch, the land is used for agriculture, horticulture and milk production, opportunities for rural recreation, and give the city its environmental setting. These amenities, the plan suggests, should not be overlooked or lightly discarded, as they contribute in a significant way to the quality of life and life style of residents of Greater Christchurch. The green belts must be maintained round the city, and the northern towns. The cancellation of the Rolleston plan made it necessary for the authority to plan urgently for alternatives to accept more population and to avoid haphazard expansion.