Issue over baches going to court

Press, 22 July 1986, Page 9

Issue over baches going to court

The courts will decide whether the Taylors Mistake baches can be licensed on a legal road. The Christchurch City Council decided last evening to seek a declaratory judgment to establish whether it has the authority to grant licences for the baches. Its City Solicitor believes it has not the right.

Prerequisite to the judgment is a discussion between the City Solicitor and the solicitor acting for the bach owners, Mr Tony Hearn, Q.C. aimed at finding a compromise.

The residents who have successfully stalled past the long-accepted March 31, 1986, date for removal of the baches want a permanent presence in the bay. They do not want to remove their baches until alternative sites are available.

That depends on a sew-

age system approved in principle by the Christchurch Drainage Board. That scheme was thought to require the removal of bach No 52, to make way for the pipeline but that now seems unnecessary. In the meantime, bach No. 52 will stay.

The council also decided to proceed with a holiday zone after confirmation of the board's proceeding with the sewer. That sewer received council endorsement.

Cr Clive Cotton, who sought the judgment after that move was rejected by a committee earlier this month, said good • will existed on both sides. What was needed was to sort out the provisions for licensing the baches.

Their eventual removal was council policy and rightly so, he said. It was not the removal but the

timing that was under discussion.

“Do not be fooled,” said Cr John Burn. “The owners want to stay forever.”

Additional reports to councillors since the committee meeting reiterate the City Solicitor’s opinion that the council has no legal power to grant licences for the baches. The Town Clerk, Mr John Gray, recommended the Court as an arbiter to judge that opinion. The council should not direct officers to do something its legal adviser says is illegal, he said. Cr Burn, a solicitor, said the procedure would take three to four months and cost between $5OOO to $6OOO. He said the procedure was one to judge legal issues not matters of fact. For another few months at least the bach owners can breathe easy.