Pharmacists to try again

Press, 19 June 1979, Page 14

Pharmacists to try again

The pharmacists whose application for a Waltham Road dispensary was declined by the Christchurch City Council last year are trying again. The proposed project was rejected by both the council and the Planning Tribunal on appeal, in spite of a sup- ' porting neighbourhood petition with 711 names. This time, the applicants, Mr and Mrs L. J. May, are putting forward an expanded proposal. Their dispensary building at 87 Waltham j Road, next to a medical centre, would include rooms for a physical therapist, a dentist, and a medical social worker. The dispensary would not be a full retail facility, but : would include products ‘

likely to be recommended by a doctor. The applicants have argued that the Waltham Road medical centre is now the only group practice in the Christchurch urban area without a pharmacy within 800 m, making their planning case unique. Objections to the new application will close on July 4. In the previous case, two) pharmacists, with shops in Wilsons and Opawa Roads, objected to the application, as did the Canterbury Regional Planning Authority. The. dispensary would be located in a Residential 4 zone. One planning argument against it was that retail facilities in such zones would tend to undermine the stability of established small shopping centres.