Battle to bridge stream drags on

Press, 27 May 1983, Page 4

Battle to bridge stream drags on

A long legal battle between the Waimairi District Council and a man wishing to bridge the Wairarapa Stream in Fendalton looks likely to drag on for months.

In a private meeting on Wednesday evening the council decided to question a decision made by Mr Justice Cook in the High Court. The decision released last week said that the council had acted with an improper motive when it declined Mr R. R. Currie a permit for a bridge across the stream to Bradnor Road.

Mr Currie says he has lost thousands of dollars in legal fees and escalating building costs since he first applied for a permit in 1980. Ratepayers’ money had also been spent on council legal .costs, he said.

After the High Court decision, Mr Currie &id he

reapplied for a permit but was again turned down. The chairman of Waimairi’s town-planning committee, Cr I. Calvert, said, “The council will not issue a building permit in the meantime.” It wanted Mr Justice Cook to reply to unanswered, questions in his decision. Because the council held its discussion on the issue in committee, Cr Calvert was unable to say what questions would be raised.

“Some months” could pass before the High Court reconsidered the case, Cr Calvert said. Mr Currie says he is “disgusted” by actions to block his right to bridge the stream., Neighbouring residents had held several meetings with councillors to express their opposition to the bridge. They wanted the area at the end of Bradnor Road made a reserve.

Already,the land, named a road in the council’s operative District Scheme, is maintained as a reserve. Where the carriageway ends a grassed area planted with shrubs lies before the stream. Mr Currie has a legal right of access to his property from Bradnor Road. He also has the right for an existing access off Glandovey Road. In 1980, after Mr Currie’s permit application, the council declared the unsealed road area a reserve. Mr Justice Cook in his decision said that the council seemed anxious to placate objectors to the bridge, including 300 people who signed a petition against it. A council resolution to stop the bridge being built had been invalid, he said. Cr Calvert said it would wait for his Honour’s “furthej£ s consideration” before

deciding its next step in the wrangle. An appeal had not yet been considered but Cr Calvert said, “My own personal opinion is that I am very reluctant to go to the Court to take action on a small and technical legal point.”

Mr Currie said he was “disgusted by delaying actions of the council. The whole thing should have been settled within two to three months.” Mr Currie said that, “unlike the council,” he had done his homework by searching titles to check his rights before buyingHe planned to build a small bridge for vehicle access and then a driveway to Bradnor Road, 2.3 m wide. He would meet the costs, and except for those on the driveway, trees and shrubs in the area would remain untouched. i His Glandovey Egad en-

trance had been built only to allow heavy traffic on to his property for the house construction so that trees in Bradnor Road would not be damaged. The bridge row has created another difficulty for Mr Currie. He has a very, large two-bedroom house but has been denied a permit to build a masterbedroom wing.

Mr Currie said the permit application had been declined because the council said he would be unable to drive round the house to his garage. However, if he was granted the Bradnor Road access this would not be a problem. Delays in the house’s completion had added tens of thousands of dollars to its cost, he said.

“I wonder how many citizens cannot afford the time and the money to fight as I have had to,” he said.