Paparua split ‘a land grab’

Press, 9 February 1989, Page 5

Paparua split ‘a land grab’

By

PAM MORTON

The splitting of large chunks of rural and urban Paparua into greater Christchurch was nothing more than a land grab, a meeting of the Paparua County Council heard. Under local government reform there was little benefit for people living in the rural areas to be going east, said Cr James Kyle. “Vast areas of purely rural land is being grabbed by the greedy paws of the city council without any thought to the people in the area,” he said. Cr Kyle said the Local Government Commission had turned a deaf ear to the needs of the people. The news media was criticised by Cr Rupert Pearce for failing to give an accurate account of the rural and urban areas being swallowed up by greater Christchurch. “It annoys me that it is only the urban areas of Paparua that are quoted as going into the new city. “I would venture to suggest that the rural areas going into Christchurch city are greater than the total urban areas.” He said that of the 14,000 people living in rural parts of Paparua, 9000 would go into the city and 5000 into the new Selwyn district. The county clerk, Mr Brian Mooar, told the meeting that 64 per cent of Paparua’s land area would go into the Selwyn district. Selwyn would receive 15 per cent of Paparua’s capital value and 12.6 per cent of the population. Cr Roily Troon congratulated a Sockburn resident for taking the initiative and starting a petition protesting against the greater Christchurch amalgamation. He described the amalgamation as a “take-over bid” by the city council with ratepayers being told dictatorially that they were being moved into the greater Christchurch area.