Development plans for Port Hills

Press, 11 May 1979, Page 4

Development plans for Port Hills

The Port Hills within the Christchurch City Council boundary could have enough houses for 2000 more residents, according to a management plan released by council planners yesterday.

Prepared over the last two years by a University of Canterbury graduate student, Mr F. C. Bacon, the study recommends four residential development sites which could allow about 100 ha of vacant hillside land for housing.

Some of the land would spill over the present Canterbury Regional Planning Authority green belt boundary above Sumner and Redcliffs. City planners have already questioned whether urban development could be resisted on die land, much of which is now occupied by the RichUall nrtlf

mond Hill golf course. The other recommended housing land, partly in the green belt, is beyond the top of Panorama Road on Clifton Hill.

Mr Bacon, the author of the management plan, is now a Wellington City Council planner. The plan is a Master of Science degree thesis. Christchurch councillors were told about it at yesterday’s meeting of the townplanning committee. The City Planner (Mr W. T. Williams) said it contained a long list of recommendations, many of them good end others which did not appear to be very practical. Several years ago the citv sought a management plan for the entire Port Hills area. Mr Bacon’s plan covers what fould be done on the city’s part of the hills. Many district scheme review decisions have alreadv been influenced by the document, and it will be kept as t reference work. Some hill land under residential zoning was not recommended for development because it is steep and unstable, especially above McCormacks Bay and Redcliffs, opposite Barnett Park from Moncks Spur. But land further up was! better for houses. One of the most suitable sites was the large area of gently sloping, stable land on Richmond Hill. This area has about 17ha, mostly zoned rural, and is leased to the golf club. Mr Bacon suggested that the reserve contribution from re-

sidential development there 1 could be used to buy Scarborough Spur land for a replacement golf course if adequate access could be projvided. He said the feasibility of linking Richmond Hill Road .with the top end of Panorama Road should also be

studied. The rural zone at the top of Moncks Spur Road, shown as a deferred residential area i in the present scheme, should be rezoned to permit lowdensity housing. Preservation of certain landscape features should be a condition of subdivision approval. Snecial ratine scales should

be retained for properties where commercial horticulture is continued. Mr Bacon said. “Long-term trends indicate the eventual demise of hor-

ticulture in this area,” he said, but that was unlikely to have any significant economic repercussions. Other types of farming could be encouraged, such as the planting of nut trees, and a report on the growth and production potential for such trees should be sought from the Ministry of Agriculture. In the city’s Port Hills rural area, there are now 48ha of horticultural land and 1182 ha of pastoral land. Another 17.4 ha are in parks and reserves and 7.Bha in the Taylor’s Mistake recreation zone. The Godley Head military reserve covers 76ha. Mr Bacon suggested that the council join the Lands and Survey Department and the Defence Department to produce a recreational development plan for the Godley Head reserve. In the present urban area, 430 ha are already covered by houses, and 266 ha are vacant. Parks and reserves account for 74ha. Less than sha is zoned commercial or industrial. Recent subdivision of hill spurs, with high-density development, reflected the change in land values. In older settlements, such as on upper Moncks Spur, the lower density and market gardens showed an early ap-

preciation of the land’s su ability for horticulture.

Mr Bacon said that effort, should be made to preven the breakdown of present hi I community identities. Some gullies and slopes separating homes were likely to be sub divided and settled, obscur ing present boundaries. Such gullies should b< protected whenever possible he said. Some should be acquired by the council as reserves and planted in native trees. Tracks through them could provide links between the spur communities. Fanning had to be protected from undesirable urban effects, such as high rates and trespassing, or the prospects of its survival were not encouraging. The expected growth in recreational use of rural areas was “likely to occur with or without official sanction because the area is too large to police effectively,” Mr Bacon said.

Rural landowners providing council-approved recreational facilities, such as walking tracks, should be granted a rate rebate equalling the cost of building the facilities. After completion, the rebate should equal the cost of maintaining them. Forestry could be a conditional use in the rural zone, but Mr Bacon recommended against any large commercial forestry. He said it would need about 121.5 ha for 25 to 30 years, and that could deny other recreational and residential activities during that time. Parts of the hills, however, could benefit from tree planting for specific purposes, such as erosion control and landscaping. Further construction of pole houses should not be allowed in areas that had slipping and tunnel gully erosion. Cluster housing could be permitted as a conditional use if the population densities in such subdivisions were limited.

Cut and fill methods of preparing building sites should be permitted only in areas with slight erosion risk, and when the rear cut wall did not exceed 1.5 m, Mr Bacon said.