Up to $l0,000 for St Albans appeal

Press, 12 November 1985, Page 9

Up to $l0,000 for St Albans appeal

The St Albans Residents’ Association will receive up to 510,000 from the Christchurch City Council to help pay for its appeal to the Planning Tribunal against the Northern Arterial reading scheme.

But even that sum, twice the limit suggested for such grants, will not meet the $lB,OOO total estimated costs of a full appeal hearing. Mr Gary Moore, the association’s chairman, is delighted with the council grant

The council’s policy and finance committee yesterday approved the grant of half the group’s total legal expenses, up to $lO,OOO, as a special case.

Mr Moore said after the meeting, which several St Albans residents attended, that he was pleased with the vote of confidence from the councillors in their financial support He said the group toped that the appeal, if it proceeded, would not last too long because of the

expense. The group had between $2OOO and $3OOO to contribute towards costs. Mr Moore said that the $lB,OOO estimate of costs was for a full two-week

hearing of the appeal. If the council meets half that total cost ($9000) and the group puts in $3OOO, that leaves a 'deficit of $6OOO. Where that will come from Mr Moore does not know.

However, he believes it is essential that the Northern Arterial be discussed before the tribunal because “enough discussion has taken place in the public arena.”

The St Albans grant was considered by the committee as a special case. The committee also considered guidelines to “flesh out” the council policy to help groups in' cases which the council take to appeal. A $5OOO upper limit for grants suggested by the committee’s chairman, Cr Matthew Glubb, was rejected by the committee. Instead, it passed four points of policy that would provide grants to any recognised group, not necessarily a neighbourhood group, only in cases before the Planning Tribunal, that the council does not meet a majority of costs of a group, and that the grants are to meet legal and other professional costs.

The committee was told that the St Albans group

was taking the Northern Arterial appeal to the tribunal on the council’s behalf and in its name. Mr Moore urged the council to support the group financially for this reason. The council’s deputy general manager (works), Mr Harold Surtees, disagreed with Mr Moore’s interpretation. The council had left its appeal to the tribunal alive to allow groups such as the St Albans group to have their voice heard, he said.

Mr Moore estimated that the group’s legal costs for the hearing of the appeal would be $12,000 plus another $6OOO in expert witness costs.

Cr John Burn noted that the appeal will come before the Planning Tribunal on December 9, for an interlocutory decision on whether it should go ahead. If the appeal does proceed, it will not be heard until March.

If the tribunal decided the appeal should not proceed, expenses would be considerably less, Cr Burn said. Mr Moore agreed.

The committee decided that a definite figure of support was needed to allow the'St Albans group to budget for its appeal action.