Waimairi fluoride referendum soon

Press, 3 September 1986, Page 7

Waimairi fluoride referendum soon

A vote against the fluoridation of Waimairi’s water supply in next month's referendum would not result in an immediate cessation of the chemical, the council’s works, traffic and reserves committee was told last evening. The water works and public health engineer, Mr R. E. Young, said it would take several days for fluoride to work through the system. The results of the referendum < should be known on October 11, the same day as the local body elections. No council discussion will follow the outcome, and council staff will be instructed to comply with the result. Mr Young said staff had already been instructed to keep the amount of fluoride in the hoppers to a minimum by election day in case the referendum ruled against fluoridation. The time taken to use the fluoride in the system will vary from station to station and will depend on how much water is used. The council decided in December, 1985, after a year-long and often heated debate, to hold a referendum on the issue. Waimairi has fluoridated its water for about 20 years. Referendum voting papers are being sent to residents with the postal voting forms for the local body election.

Wairarapa Terrace Methods of restricting traffic on Wairarapa Terrace and Fulton Avenue will be investigated further by the Fendalton riding members. Representatives of residents of the two streets told the meeting they were concerned about the delay in implementing plans which had been discussed in 1985. About 55 residents had supported moves to close a gap in the median strip on Fendalton Road by Wairarapa Terrace and to restrict traffic to one way from the intersection with Garden Road. Since then the council has narrowed the median strip gap and installed an island at the astern end of Wairarapa Terrace. Neither move seemed to have had any effect on the amount of traffic using the streets to travel between Fendalton Road and Rossall Street, the representatives said.

No work had been done at the Garden Road end. The district traffic engineer, Mr Peter Atkinson, said the work at the Garden Road-Wairarapa Terrace intersection had been deleted from the estimates because of lack of finance. He said it was difficult to plan traffic flows in the area until the Christchurch City Council had

finalised what it wanted to do in Merivale. Cr Brian Shackel said it was difficult to estimate the effects of the work at the Fendalton Road end because blocks used to narrow temporarily the median strip gap had often been moved.

He said completely closing the median strip would be unfair to Fendalton Road residents who wanted to turn there.

Cr Philip Carter said he had been approached by several residents who were opposed to closing the median strip completely. The committee’s chairman, Cr Gordon Freeman, moved that the riding members investigate the issue further and bring a recommendation to either of the two council meetings to be held before the local body election.

Woodland The committee supported in principle a plan to establish a community forest and woodland between Briggs Road and Clearbook Street Further support could not be given until the council had decided on other possibilities for developing the land. The 4.1 ha block of land is predominantly zoned rural in the operative District Scheme but is residential in the reviewed scheme. Using the land as part of the Community Forests and Woodlands scheme was suggested to the committee’s meeting in August The district engineer, Mr John Lamb, said in a report that the land had a rural market value of $50,000 to $60,000.