Urban area appeal turned down

Press, 9 May 1984, Page 9

Urban area appeal turned down

An appeal against extending the urban area of Halswell in a north-westerly direction to Wigram has been turned down by the Planning Tribunal. The decision, handed down by Judge Skelton, concerned an appeal by the Canterbury United Council against a Paparua County Council decision. The Canterbury United Council sought an order that the areas in the appeal site proposed to be zoned Industrial 1 and Industrial 2 be

zoned Rural 4, and that proposed to be Residential la deferred, be zoned Rural 2. The area of the appeal site was about 25ha. The two areas proposed to be zoned Residential la deferred, totalled 12.9 ha and are common ground, had the potential to produce about 150 residential allotments. Within this deferred zoning was about I.3ha which was intended by the respondent to be an extension to a proposed lake

reserve provided for in the adjoining Residential la zone now provided for in the review. Judge Skelton said. The Paparua County Council promoted the extension to the urban development at Halswell to provide a logical zone boundary, to make provisions for local employment at Halswell; to assist in resolving the layout and servicing of the presently provided for Hatewell extension by lessening the uncertainties about the future use of the appeal site; and to assist in the development of the Hatewell community by rounding off an identifiable community. The Canterbury United Council said that the proposed extension cut into the green belt of its regional planning scheme. “The matter which weighs most heavily with us, is that in our judgment, the respondent’s (Paparua County Council) proposal does have some regional significance. We say that because it provides the opportunity, in land use planning terms, for the urban area of Halswell, which at present contains some 69ha of undeveloped but residential zoned land, to be extended by a further 25ha for residential and light industrial purposes,” said Judge Skelton. "It is our judgment, that the reasons advanced by the council for promulgating its proposals for Hatewell are, in the circumstances, overriding. In saying that, we recognise and take into account that the council accepts that there is no need to make further provision for residential development at Halswell, in the sense that there is a foreseeable shortage for which future planning is required," Judge Skelton said.