G.U.S. angry with Values man

Press, 22 June 1978, Page 1

G.U.S. angry with Values man

Merivale property developers have threatened legal action against the Values Party candidate for Fendalton (Mr D. R. Offwood) for misrepresentation.

At the heart of the dispute is an advertisement which appeared in a suburban newspaper last week, and which a spokesman for G.U.S. Properties, Ltd, developer of a S3M shopping mall at Merivale, said was far from the truth. The G.U.S. property manager (Mr N. Borlase) said his company was “seeking legal opinion” on the advertisement. He said the advertisement illustrated a stark concrete-block complex which was claimed to be typical of a G.U.S. development, and asked residents if they wanted something like that.

"It looked nothing like any of our other developments,” said Mr Borlase. No artist's impression of the mall had been made available — “they can be very misleading” — but a detailed model should soon be available for public inspection, said Mr Borlase. The 45,000 sq. ft mall, which occupies almost an entire block fronting on Papanui Road, has been put up for tender, but the Values candidate has in recent weeks become the centre of growing local opposition to the development. Mr Offwood said yesterday that he had seen plans for the mall "only briefly,” but had assumed it would be along the lines of the G.U.S. malls at Barrington Street and Hornby. “Such a mall would be

totally out of keeping with the character of Merivale village,” said Mr Offwood. It would almost double the size of the village shopping area. Many local residents were becoming very concerned about traffic problems, especially in narrow streets such as Office Road, he said.

A petition among residents opposing the planned development had received strong support, he said. “The development is also morally doubtful,” said Mr Offwood. “The land is owned by the Government Insurance Commission, and, while it is a gilt-edged investment, the money would be better used in house mortgage finance.”