Urban growth said to worsen flooding

Press, 7 July 1977, Page 6

Urban growth said to worsen flooding

Housing development in Christchurch should be stopped to avoid making flood problems worse, said the member of Parliament for, Sydenham (Mr John Kirk)' last evening. His call came at a meeting' held to form the Sydenham ■ Community Association. Mr Kirk said that although nobody could control the' weather, an already bad situation could be seriously' aggravated by poor planning. | “The problem that is! occurring is that too much! water —through a build-up in, the ponding system in the urban area—is being chan-i relied into an already over-i loaded catchment area of the i Heathcote River.” he said. ) “The City Council should! be asked . . to immediately! suspend, through the Regonall Planning Authority, the; building of any more vacant! land in the immediate urban ■ Christchurch area.” This would avoid anyi increase in the amount of; drainage into the Heathcote, and Avon catchments. He said the City Council should also be asked to! Justify the sale of WorsleysSpur and Cashmere land. > It was "arrant nonsense”) for the Christchurch Drain-) age Board to say that the'

t!drainage system had handlec • I the flooding quite well, said ;iMr Kirk. 1' Three years earlier, both -jthe board and the council Thad been told of the problem, ; and had done virtually noth>iing since. As long as they i iand the Government nurtured their attitude of noni involvement, they would have to shoulder the blame I for the unneccessary severity ’’and extent of flooding in | Christchurch, Mr Kirk said. i Both the council and the Drainage Board blamed their inactivity on lack of funds, he said. "It doesn’t cost very | much money to cease urban ■ development.” It was those organisations ) which “decided that Rolles|ton was going to be a bad i thing.” he said. The people i who had been flooded out I recently might consider it | was time to stop development in Christchurch and {begin somewhere else. i Mr Kirk said the Drainage [Board should seek special assistance from the GovemIment to do “remedial and preventive” work. He suggested that the Government consider the possibility of i buying houses on low-lying (land, where residents wanted ito sell. ' An immediate study should

d)be conducted into why the d; frequency and seriousness of flooding in Christchurch was h! increasing. ill The Labour mayoral candii.idate in this year’s local body i-1 elections (Mr A. Clark) reyipeated Mr Kirk’s remarks, dj “If we insist on building - i Christchurch over natural -I I ponding areas, then it is no e; wonder they become flooded,’’ /[he said. 1 [ “To say that the drainage needs of this part of the city 5 [are not urgent, is to write off r !our people as second-class ■ I citizens.” ') The recent floods had 1 [ shown that the city could not . be allowed to spread aim- ’ iessly. The land at Rolleston ['should be used for what it 'was intended, he said. :I The Mayor of Christchurch t|(Mr H. G. Hay) and the De- - puty Mayor (Mr P. J. R. I Skellerup) defended the council’s policy. Local-body can- > didates from the Values Party 1 also spoke. The meeting voted to adopt 1 a draft constitution for the -1 newly-formed association. It t j will represent the area f; bounded by Moorhouse >1 Avenue, Waltham Road, 1: Tennyson Street, the Heathcote River, Strickland Street, 1 and Antigua Street.