Fendalton car-park dispute stalled

Press, 4 May 1984, Page 5

Fendalton car-park dispute stalled

The controversy over additional car-parking at the Fendalton Mall appears to have been put into temporary abeyance. The mall owners have notified the Christchurch City Council of their intention to apply for planning consent for the additional parks.

The mall owners bought the piece of land about three years ago and were required by subdivisional legislation to amalgamate it with the rest of the mall, because it had no access except from adjoining land and the mall.

In March the mall owners began clearing the additional land, an action which angered nearby residents who feared it was being prepared for car-parking. The land is now zoned residential but under the Dis-

trict Scheme review a special zoning allowance will allow car-parking.

The scheme review is not expected to come into force for two or three years and the residents feared the mall owners were pre-empt-ing this formality. The town planning committee of the Waimairi District Council discussed the matter yesterday in committee. Afterwards the council’s chairman, Mrs Margaret Murray, said that the council and the mall owners had held discussions and the council was unable to determine whether the land surface reshaping already done came under the control of the District Scheme.

“It is accepted that the land owners had made inquiries to ascertain whether the work could be carried

out without permission, and they had no intention of using the land as a car-park until planning laws allowed this,” she said. “The council has proposed zoning changes in its reviewed District Scheme which would permit the land to be used for car-park, but this proposal is subject to the right of interested parties to support or object. The council’s prime concern is that this right should not be pre-empted, and that a decision will be made on proper town planning principles,” Mrs Murray said.

Objections to the review close at the end of next month.

She said that the council had taken urgent steps in the High Court when the work at the mall first started but was now satis-

fied that the land would not be used as a car-park until permission had been obtained.

“It is arguable that the conditions of planning consent under which the mall was originally established in 1969, may have been breached. The owners point out that some circumstances have changed since those conditions were imposed.

“The council considered prosecution but its solicitor now advises that this would achieve nothing, because a prompt application for planning consent is to be made. The land owner has acted in good faith,” Mrs Murray said.

She said that residents could be assured that the decision on the planning application would be made on strictly applied planning

principles. The land in question has been sealed this week, and Mrs Murray said she had been assured that the area would be fenced off this week using posts and chain. Pool fencing Council staff will begin discussions with adjoining local bodies in the metropolitan area with a view to standardising by-laws on the fencing of swimming pools. The chief executive officer, Mr A. J. W. Lamb, said that the council could work in with other local bodies with a view to synchronising the time of implementation of any fencing requirements. He said that any new requirements were likely to include a time limit for compliance for existing pools and this was where councils could work together.