Employment zone ‘recedes’
Development of the longdelayed Bexley Employment Zone seemed even further away after a meeting of the Christchurch City Council policy- and finance committee yesterday. Councillors were told that development of the industrial land’s 9.5 ha first stage could cost $743,000, and sales prospects were remote during the present economic slump. At the start of the present council term, $500,000 was set aside to meet prelimin-' ary development costs of the eastern suburbs zone. That money came from the sale of the city abattoir. The committee agreed that money already held should be put in a fund for develop-
ment and purchase of property over a wider area of Bexley, including the present rubbish tip land.
The fund could be used in the meantime for interim management of the employment zone east of Bexley Road. The $743,000 estimated cost of first-stage zone development included finance for the movement of surplus earthworks, roading, and stormwater work. It. did not include the cost of developing a buffer reserve south of Birch Street residential properties. Fencing of the first-stage land might be done to allow grazing. The land'might also be used for horticultural
activities associated with the council’s job-promotion schemes. The chairman of the committee (Cr Vicki Buck) said that it would be a gamble to commit the money to development at this time. “I think it is a fairly risky sort of thing to do with council money," she said. r It was clear that an employment area was still needed, she said, but it was a matter for long-term planning. It was sad to defer the project, but it was the only realistic thing to do. Cr M. R. Carter said that the interest-earning fund might not earn enough to keep up with inflated development costs, and the
council faced the danger of getting “further and further away, from doing any work in this area” unless some money was spent on development. The committee agreed that basic development works, such as shifting of the earthworks fill, could be considered later as one use for the new development fund. To date, the council has spent $675,853 on the Bexley land, including its purchase cost. It was bought in the early 1970 s by a Labour City Council as a future housing project.. A later council changed the area to an employment zone.
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Press, 9 March 1982, Page 6
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392Employment zone ‘recedes’ Press, 9 March 1982, Page 6
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