Meeting votes against purchase of Bowenvale land

Press, 30 January 1984, Page 9

Meeting votes against purchase of Bowenvale land

A public meeting called by the Heathcote Reserves Action Group last evening ended in confusion and a close vote calling on the Heathcote County Council not to buy Bowenvale Valley for a public reserve. At one stage, a speaker suggested that the meeting chairman, Mr Alex Smith, who chairs the Reserve Action Group, should stand down, alleging that Mr Smith had shown in statements to the news media that he was biased against the proposal to buy Bowenvale Valley. After more than two hours discussion, the meeting, attended by more than 120 people, voted by 48 to 40 in favour of a motion calling on the Heathcote County Council to spend its reserve money on land that would be suitable for team sport and group activity. That would rule out Bowenvale Valley, which is in the Port Hills above Huntsbury Spur. A second motion, calling on the Heathcote council to give serious consideration to buying Bowenvale Valley, was put after some debate about its validity. Mr Smith said he would accept the motion because the aim of the meeting was to give some guidance to the council. This motion was defeated by 47 votes to 41. In spite of the outcome of the voting most of the local residents who spoke supported the proposal to buy Bowenvale Valley for a public reserve. During general discussion only three spoke against the move, saying the cost of maintaining and developing the reserve would be a burden on ratepayers in the future. Those who supported the proposal said a hillside reserve would have a wide range of recreational uses and that if the land was not bought by the council, it would be bought by speculators of “big business.” Another speaker said that Christchurch had Hagley Park because of the foresight of the early settlers and that the Heathcote council should be congratulated for having the vision to buy the land. The public meeting, held at the Lansdowne Commun-

ity Centre, was called by the newly formed Reserves Action Committee after the Heathcote County Council decided to negotiate to buy Bowenvale Valley late last year. This reversed an earlier council decision not to buy the land. Bowenvale Valley, consisting of 182 ha, is one of three blocks which make up Bowenvale Farm. It was passed in at $245,000 at auction last June, after failing to reach the reserve price. Huntsbury Spur was sold at the auction and the Christchurch Civic Trust has signed an agreement to buy the third block, Mount Vernon, for a public reserve. Mr Smith said the meeting was called so that ratepayers could debate whether the council should buy Bowenvale Valley and how its reserves fund could best be spent. Invitations were delivered to local residents. The Heathcote County chairman, Mr Oscar Alpers, who was one of two invited speakers at the meeting, said that the council had planned to buy land for a reserve in the area since 1978. When Bowenvale farm came up for auction, the council had considered buying the land, but negotiations had ended because of the likely cost and the effect on rates. However, six months later, when the land had still not sold, the council had a good deal more money in its land acquisition account and interest rates had dropped, so that the proposal “looked better than ever.” A sub-committee was set up to negotiate the purchase, and the parties were “not very far apart in price.” Mr Alpers said that the council had $170,000 in its land subdivision account and if a deferred payment arrangement could be arranged with the vendor, it might be possible to buy the land without borrowing money. That meant the purchase would have no impact on rates. Money in the land subdi-

vision account came from developers who paid a levy instead of setting aside land in their subdivisions for reserves. The money could be spent only on the purchase or development of reserve land. Because of land development in the county recently, the money in the account had accumulated “quite considerably” and it was likely to get a “pretty substantial boost” in the next year with the development levy from the bulk liquefied petroleum gas installation in Chapmans Road. It was high time that the money was spent on land, Mr Alpers said. Heathcote County was very short of reserves, he said. Waimairi County had 15ha of regional reserves for every 1000 people, but Heathcote had none. The only parks within Heathcote’s boundaries were Victoria Park, Elizabeth Park, and Thompson Park, all of which were administered by the Christchurch City Council. “If Christchurch City was interested in this land, it would just about own half the county and you can no doubt think of various things that might flow on from that,” Mr Alpers said. Heathcote had difficulty finding land for reserves because there was not much flat land available. Buying flat residential or industrial land was very expensive. Residents who objected to the proposal appeared to be worried about noise and possible traffic in Bowenvale Avenue. But the public would be asked for submissions on the reserve’s management and development. Access could be from the Summit Road and trail bikes would not be allowed in the area. Mr Alpers said that the land formed a significant part of the backdrop for Christchurch City, particularly if it linked with reserves in Victoria Park and Mount Vernon. However, Mr Mel Lohrey, deputy chairman of an advisory committee on recreation, said that money from the reserves account should be spent on flat ground for group' and team sports. Heathcote had a “sad lack” of sports grounds and facilities and young people were encouraged to leave the district to play sport. The committee had advised the Heathcote County Council of this need on many occasions, but so far little had been done except the leasing of 21ha of land in Worsleys Road. This was not ideal because it was subject to flooding and facilities would still have to be developed. The Heathcote rubbish dump at Ferrymead could be developed as a sports ground, since it had to be filled in within two years. Former rubbish dumps had been successfully converted into sports grounds at Pioneer Sports Stadium and Waltham Park. Mr Lohrey said that the council had already decided against buying Bowenvale and if it was going to change its mind, it should have sought a mandate from ratepayers. Mr Lohrey said he could not see the wisdom of buying a piece of land that was suitable only for deer, goats, and probably a few sheep. It had no future potential at all and would represent a great expense.