Subdivision plan set to be blocked

Press, 3 February 1984, Page 5

Subdivision plan set to be blocked

Subdivision approval for a large area of vacant land in Bromley will probably be withheld by the Christchurch City Council until unsuitable fill material is removed from the site.

The council’s town-plan-ning committee was told yesterday that dumping of such material—including concrete slabs, old kerb and channel, tree stumps, large boulders, sawdust, bricks, and steel—had continued even after a contractor had been told that it would not be a proper base for housing sections.

Owners of the Kensington Subdivision have applied to the council for scheme plan approval for the rest of the undeveloped land bounded by Linwood Avenue, Dyers Road, St Johns Street, and Bayswater Crescent. Councillors said there was no way such approval could be granted until the unsuitable fill material was re-

moved from the land.

The Kensington Subdivision has been developed in stages since 1970. Recently, a lot of material has been dumped on the undeveloped land to raise it to Drainage Board flood level standards.

A planning report said that dumping of the material— done by a contractor working in conjunction with the landowner, the New Zealand Land Development Company—had not been supervised by a qualified engineer.

Councillors were shown photographs of the material.

“The size and random distribution of the large boulders, slabs of concrete and masonry makes the filled land quite unsuitable for residential development,” said the report. Mr A. C. Iversen, the city land surveyor, said he could not approve a subdivisional plan until the material was removed. Cr Mollie Clark said the

continued dumping seemed to display an arrogance and disregard for the council and community. “I have been asked whether it is going to be a mini-landfill site,” she said. Mr Iversen said the landowner had a right to store such material there, but could not expect the council to approve the filled area for residential use. “We have not the power to tell him to get rid of it,” he said. "What is objectionable about concrete?” Mr J. M. Rutherford, one of the landowning company’s directors, said a meeting would be held on the site soon to consider the size of some of the fill material that was to be used in a subdivision road. Such material was not intended to be used on residential sections themselves.

“The fellow who put it there considers he has removed the big pieces,” said Mr Rutherford.