Prime central Christchurch site poised for sale to Wilson Parking

Monday, 7 March 2022

The site that could be sold to Wilson Parking is in the foreground, with the new Court Theatre under construction in the background.

An “incredibly valuable” central city site should be sold to Wilson Parking, despite overwhelming public opposition to the proposal, council staff say.

Christchurch City councillors will on Thursday consider a staff recommendation to sell a 2000 square metre empty plot on Gloucester St to Wilson Parking to build and operate a car park building.

The recommendation was made despite 219 of the 267 public submissions opposing the idea.

A map of the performing arts precinct in central Christchurch, bounded by Gloucester, Colombo, New Regent and Armagh Sts.

The site is part of the performing arts precinct, which includes the Isaac Theatre Royal, the Piano event facility and a new Court Theatre expected to open next year. A car park building had been in the plans for the precinct for many years.

A Wilson Parking site on Kilmore St in April last year.

* New central Christchurch car park to be built by December 2021

* Councillors to consider Christchurch performing arts precinct plans in secret

A Wilson Parking site on Gloucester St in August.

Submitters opposed the car park proposal over concerns about climate change, while many were critical of Wilson Parking. One submitter said Wilson was “a stain on our city and … almost universally disliked”. The positive submitters said a car park would be good for the performing arts precinct.

The proposal was also opposed by the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, which owns a neighbouring block and plans to build a 600-space car park building on their land.

The Catholic Diocese sent a letter to council through legal firm Chapman Tripp claiming the consultation process for the sale was flawed because the size and scale of the proposed car park was not made public.

“The consultation is therefore not genuine and is likely to be the subject of challenge if the sale proceeds,’’ the letter states.

Chapman Tripp made a request to council under freedom of information laws for “all materials held by CCC in relation to the intended future use of the site” in November.

A rendering of how the new Court Theatre will look in central Christchurch.

The council did not release any drawings or plans of the proposed car park in its response, so Chapman Tripp have complained to the Ombudsman about the response.

“Our client’s view is that the council is delaying providing us with the information requested to frustrate the consultation process,’’ the letter stated. “The response from council smacks of sophistry and it is our client’s view that the consultation is not genuine.”

A council staff response to the Chapman Tripp letter attached to the report for councillors said “these drawings and plans either do not exist or are not held by the council and the council expects that these will be developed over time by the preferred respondent through the design and resource consent process”.

The proposal attracted over 200 responses from local business owners and members of the public.

The new Court Theatre is set to open next year.

Little Andromeda theatre director Michael Bell, who had previously proposed building another theatre on the performing arts precinct site, also opposed the sale.

“At [the] very least, if you really want yet another car park, … at least make it a council-owned and run car park, and not just another Wilson park that only serves the wealthiest of our society, with little care of the future,’’ he wrote in a submission.

Rob Mayes said council should not sell the land to Wilson for a parking building.

The Government's wage subsidy bill has now topped $12b, with Wilson Parking among the companies to receive more money through the latest round of payments. (First published July 3, 2020)

“Don't expand their empire. Look at ethical and community based options for parking and/or use of this land.”

Alex Morton said the land should be used for a cultural purpose.

“Another multi-storey car park smack bang in the middle of the arts precinct will be an eyesore, will create more traffic in a wonderfully car-free area, will encourage more driving over car free alternatives at a time when we need to discourage driving, and give money to a faceless, soulless company that does nothing for Christchurch.”

A spokeswoman for Wilson Parking did not respond to criticisms of the company by submitters. She said the company was in talks with council to “build and operate a state-of-the-art parking facility that will support the performing arts precinct and wider community, at no cost to the ratepayer”.

“Our proposal includes a building that prioritises adaptable design to ensure that the space can be repurposed for other uses in the future, in addition to supporting the growth of alternate transport modes and electric vehicles.”

“We believe that creating a highly accessible car park is pivotal to enabling the success of the performing arts precinct.”

Staff said the public submissions concerned about climate change did “not present a compelling reason not to proceed with the sale of the land” even though “it is recognised that the provision of any new car parking facility is in tension with council’s strategic priority of meeting the challenge of climate change through every means available.”

Staff wrote that Wilson was selected for the car park “based on their financial position, ability to manage the operation and working relationship with a proven development contractor”.

Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel said council had previously decided to build a car park building on the site and the consultation process was only about the sale of the land.

She said the site was in an 'incredibly valuable location'.