Industrial expansion rejected by council

Press, 6 May 1983, Page 5

Industrial expansion rejected by council

The move to extend industrial activities south of Disraeli Street in Addington has been rejected by the Christchurch City Council in a town-planning hearing decision.

Victoria Square Estates, Ltd, which owns residentially zoned land between Antigua Street and Braddon Street, wanted 9700 sq m of land on the south side of Disraeli Street zoned for light industry. Another 4540 sq m of land owned by the company would have been made a public recreation reserve under a compromise plan proposed by council planners.

But that plan met strong opposition from the neighbourhood, whose residents said the land had potential for renewed housing development.

“The evidence of Victoria Square Estates suggests that the company continued to acquire property in the residential zone after the company had concluded that it would be difficult to develop the sites for residential purposes,” said a hearing panel decision reported to the town-planning committee yesterday.

“The members believe the area is no more difficult to

develop for residential purposes than many parts of Addington, Sydenham, Waltham, and Phillipstown,” the decision said. Letters from the council’s health department to the developer suggested “that the developers had made no effort either to redevelop their properties or to maintain existing housing stock.”

Residents who objected to part of the site’s being used for light industry believed that benefits of any recreational area were outweighed by the disadvantages of industrial development. Evidence presented by objectors had suggested that interest in residential development was not lacking. Proposals contained in the District Scheme variation had been one way to create a permanent buffer between industrial and residential zones in the area, but it was not the best when “the whole range of public interest matters which the council is tied to” were considered, the decision said.

Because of the site’s size and mature trees, the hearing panel thought the area “presented an opportunity for a high standard of resi-

dential development.” There were compelling reasons to preserve and protect the residential zoning, and the proposed reserve “did not counter-balance the likely impact of the proposed industrial zoning,” the decision said. A new district scheme variation should be introduced. That variation would provide for only a recreation reserve in the residential zone. The size and location of the reserve would be determined later. With Disraeli Street, the reserve would “provide both an industrial buffer and an incentive for residential development to the south.”

The site owned by the holding company, which started buying land in the area in 1973, covers about half a block. Mr B. J. Britten, the Victoria Square Estates director, is a former city councillor.

A building supply warehouse and showroom, with car parking, were proposed for the site. In the council's reviewed District Scheme, the site is designated as one which the council might consider was appropriate for certain uses not permitted in residential

The hearing panel said that designation should be removed.

The industrial proposal prompted the formation of the Addington Neighbourhood Group, which is led by Mrs Barbara Martindale. Mrs Martindale is an Antigua Street resident who first heard about the nearby industrial zone proposal when the City Council outlined it last year in a letter to neighbourhood residents. Since the first District Scheme review was notified in 1968, the City Council has been trying to create more regular and stable boundaries between the city’s central industrial district and residential areas on its edge. Victoria Square Estates had originally suggested that the property it owns could be developed as a mixture of light industrial, residential renewal and landscaping uses. There is no right of appeal against the decision to withdraw the proposed District Scheme variation, but normal appeal rights would apply for any decision the council ultimately makes on the new variation proposal.