Public rally to oppose tower

Press, 16 July 1987, Page 8

Public rally to oppose tower

A public rally opposing a tower in Victoria Square will be held on the proposed site at noon tomorrow. A group would move to Cathedral Square to lay black polythene over areas that would be shaded by the tower, said a rally organiser, Mrs Carole Evans. People in Victoria Square will be addressed by speakers from the Civic Trust, members of the Christchurch City Council, and architectural engineers. A model on display at the Canterbury Public Library showed the proposed development of Victoria Square without the tower, and after the closing of Victoria Street, said Mrs Evans.

“There was a lot of public participation in that plan, which was approved by the City Council in 1985. If the tower is permitted there, all that participation, and ideas for the Square’s develop-

ment, have gone out the window.”

The chairman. of the Christchurch Civic Trust, Mr John Brandts-Glesen, said at its annual meeting this week that the trust opposed the building of a tower in Victoria Square. “We do not oppose a tower per se but as to the building of a tower in Victoria Square our position is firm — we oppose it”

Mr Brandts-Giesen said that while the tower promoters could be commended for their enterprise, that did not automatically entitle them to be able to build on public land.

"The promoters pride themselves on how little ground space the tower will occupy. As it is a $25 million project I submit that the acquisition of a commercial site would not ruin the feasibility of the project. But it may well save a splendid square which at last was to be liberated from the traffic dissecting it.”