Brownlee plans to withdraw commercial zone near Christchurch airport
Monday, 1 February 2016
Land beside Canterbury earthquake cemetery site near Christchurch airport is set to stay in pony paddocks partly because of a nearby upgrade to a state highway.
Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister, Gerry Brownlee, has proposed that 35 hectares off Russley Rd and Hawthornden Rd in Avonhead remain rural. The affected land is increasingly enclosed by houses or industrial business parks.
On January 16, Brownlee notified his intention to delete the city-fringe land from the 'greenfield priority zone' under the Land Use Recovery Plan (LURP)
The zone, introduced after the 2010-11 earthquakes, is one of several created after the earthquakes to energise the city's commercial growth.
The north-west of the city, including the Avonhead block, is ringed by these zones from Styx in the north-east to Hornby in the south-west.
A CERA spokeswoman said that since the LURP was introduced in December 2013, the New Zealand Transport Agency had finalised its Russley Rd/State Highway 1 motorway upgrade.
'This has impacted on access to the [Avonhead greenfield priority] land … therefore its suitability for industrial purposes,' she said.
Brownlee wanted feedback on retaining the existing rural zoning after considering the proximity of the motorway and greenfield land to residential properties.
The CERA spokeswoman said Brownlee had wanted to ensure an integrated approach to industrial land near the airport.
The land was identified in the LURP for business use. In Christchurch that was mainly industry ranging from warehousing to manufacturing.
The Avonhead land was zoned rural and could not generally be used for anything else other than rural activities without a greenfield priority status.
Brownlee was not considering the removal of any other greenfield priority areas, the CERA spokeswoman said.
Several landowners in the Avonhead greenfield zone last year disputed the city council's view that industry on their property was not sustainable and not a good use of city infrastructure. The council's concerns included traffic congestion and supplying a new commercial area with water and sewage systems.
One of the property owners, Equus Trust, argued in hearings for the Christchurch district replacement plan that the land was within Christchurch airport's 50 decibel airport noise zone so was not suitable for residential living - and the 4.2ha site was not large enough for rural use.
'This, coupled with its location close to major access roads in and out of the city, indicate that an industrial zoning is the most efficient use of the land,' the trust's law firm said.
Avonhead Community Group chairman SomnatSarkar Bagchi said it had fought for three years against the original LURP greenfield designation, as well as a proposed commercial development on the corner of Memorial Ave and Russley Rd.
The group, which claims a membership of 10,000, supported a residential housing development beside the greenfield priority zone, he said.
In hearing documents, Equus Trust's listed address is 67 Hawthornden Rd. The named owners of this Hyde Park property are lawyer Peter Cordner and accountant Richard Sissons, who said they represent the interests of Graham Heazlewood, who is fighting to develop a nearby block of rural-zoned land on the corner of Memorial Ave and Russley Rd.
Heazlewood, who also submitted to the Avonhead zone hearings through another investment vehicle, Memorial Avenue Investments, could not immediately be reached for comment. Submissions to the greenzfield zone decisions close on February 5.