Latimer Square decision applauded

Press, 5 July 1985, Page 1

Latimer Square decision applauded

By

KAY FORRESTER,

City Council reporter

The Christchurch City Council voted last evening against the taking of Latimer Square for roadway. The decision drew applause from the 100 or so residents who sat through a special meeting of the council called to consider five recommendations from its town-planning committee. The recommendations dealt with the proposed Avonside expressway and Northern arterial and the Madras Stj-eet-Barbadoes Street one-way pair. The decision was not an expected one, in light of the recommendation to support the Planning Tribunal’s decision whether it confirmed or revoked the requirement of the Minister of Works and Development to designate a small portion of the north-east corner of Latimer Square for the Madras Street widening. The recommendation said that if the tribunal confirmed the Minister’s designation, the council would support an amendment to the Reserves Empowering Act. The act specifies that Latimer Square should not be taken for roadway. An amendment would be needed before a portion of

the Square could be used. The council's decision to oppose taking any of the square for roadway leaves the initiative on amendments to the act with the Minister or the Ministry of Works and Development rather than the council. The Ministry had indicated, the City Solicitor reported last evening, that if the council did not support an amendment the Minister might abandon the whole one-way street requirement. The Planning Tribunal will meet in Christchurch on July 15. It is supposed to hear outstanding matters in the Christchurch City Council’s District Scheme, so that that scheme may become operative. This includes the reading appeals. A special meeting of the tribunal yesterday indicated that it would decide on July 15 whether it would adjourn its hearing until later. Cr Mollie Clark said she was delighted that the council had decided to oppose Latimer Square’s being taken and that that feeling was to be conveyed to the tribunal. Of the five recommendations put to the council last evening, the three relating

to the one-way street pair and Latimer Square caused debate. A recommendation on the abandonment of the Avonside expressway appeal was passed with little opposition. So, too, was a recommendation of the council proceeding with its appeal on the Northern arterial so that residents’ objections might be heard. Latimer Square proved the contentious point in the recommendations on the one-way pair. Several councillors felt uneasy about the possible implications of attempting to have the Empowering Act amended. Sir Hamish Hay attempted to have the view of the Government on changing the act sought but his motion was lost. An amendment by Cr Geoff Stone to have the implications of the act pursued with the Government was passed. Cr John Burn said that the Deputy Prime Minister, and member of Parliament for Christchurch Central, Mr Palmer, had already said he would do his best to prevent any changes in the act. “If that is what it takes to preserve Latimer Square,

then thank God for Geoffrey Palmer,” said Cr Vicki Buck, which remark drew loud applause from the public gallery. Sir Hamish said he believed the road proposals, as they affected Latimer Square, could be redesigned. He was not, however, advocating a general rethink or abandonment of the oneway pair. Cr Clark moved to have the council’s opposition to the Minister’s designation on the square conveyed to the tribunal but the motion passed was tempered to say that the council opposed the taking of Latimer Square for roadway. The council did not appeal the Minister’s designation last year and it was felt it could not now oppose something that it had already accepted. Recommendations to have the City Solicitor convey the concerns of residents about the adverse social and environmental impact of the one-way pair proposal and the conflict on the Cultural 3 zone including the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and the

Christchurch Polytechnic with the proposal to the tribunal, and to ask the tribunal to seek an assurance from the Minister that adequate measures to minimise adverse effects would be taken if the designations were confirmed, were passed. Seven or eight amendments and substitute motions were put during the two-hour meeting; some were passed, some lost. Some councillors seemed confused after the meeting as to exactly what had happened. The decisions made by the council last evening leave the Planning Tribunal hearings that start later this month up in the air. The council’s District Scheme, which was completed .in 1979, cannot become operative until the tribunal has resolved outstanding issues. There are other issues apart from the roading proposals, although they are

the more contentious. At present the council, in effect, operates two District Schemes. The operative scheme was made so in 1973. It is the legally recognised scheme, although the council is operating a twotiered system using the 1979 reviewed scheme also. The Planning Tribunal, when it meets on July 15, may decide to adjourn the whole matter until later this year or even next year. It may also decide to make the council’s District Scheme operative excluding those areas under appeal, including the Northern arterial and the one-way pair. An amendment calling on the tribunal to do just that was lost last evening on the casting vote of the chairman, Sir Hamish Hay. Also lost, on Sir Hamish’s casting vote, was an amendment calling for the hearings on the Northern arterial and the one-way pair on July 15 to be adjourned. Solicitors representing community groups are expected to urge strongly that the tribunal adjourn when it meets on July 15.