Catholic-owned gravel pit to be upgraded after council threatens enforcement

Friday, 25 October 2024

The Christchurch City Council says it will pursue enforcement action if work on the Armagh/Colombo St car park is delayed again. (Site pictured in early October)

One of central Christchurch’s last remaining rogue gravel car parks may be upgraded by Christmas, after threats of enforcement action by the city council.

The car park, on the corner of Armagh St and Colombo St, which is owned by the Catholic diocese but operated by Wilson Parking, has been plagued with potholes for years, but a resource consent approved in March was meant to put an end to it.

The Wilsons-operated car park on the corner of Colombo St and Armagh St may be upgraded by Christmas.

Come early October - with no work under way - Mark Stevenson, council’s head of planning and consents, told The Press the council was considering enforcement action over the owner’s non-compliance.

However on Wednesday, after discussions with the owners, Stevenson said work would begin by the end of the week.

If there was another delay, enforcement action, which could range from an infringement notice to prosecution, was back on the table, he said.

Former Christchurch Bishop Paul Martin, left, and developer Philip Carter at the site of the car park in 2019, when it was then destined to become part of a new Catholic precinct.

Wilson Parking got the ball rolling with a resource consent application in September 2020, but four years on, and six months after consent was approved, little had changed.

The half hectare site was initially one of several diocese-owned parcels of land destined to be developed into a new $500 million precinct featuring a new cathedral, school and church accommodation.

A Catholic precinct as well as several new hotels are planned for central Christchurch. (Video first published in December 2019)

But, according to the consent, and despite the council and Wilson Parking’s efforts, the application struggled to progress in part due to uncertainty about the project, which was paused in 2023 and canned earlier this year.

According to the consent, the site owner was expected to begin upgrades within a few months of getting approval, which did not happen.

Simon Thompson, diocesan general manager, confirmed work to begin fencing off the site would begin this week, and the upgrade was expected to be done by Christmas.

The consent application as it stands pledged to upgrade the 150-bay car park to something better sealed and lightly landscaped.

The diocese requested a partial variation to the consent on Tuesday, but he said it was just to allow the diocese to proceed with upgrades and didn’t expect it to be a major issue.

The consent application as it stands pledged to upgrade the 150-bay car park opposite the historic Victoria Square to something better sealed and lightly landscaped.

The site will no longer have loose gravel, but a denser, coarse surface like other car parks in central Christchurch upgraded in recent years.

The consent will last for five years, and only Wilson Parking was permitted to operate the car park.

As of June, there were only eight car parks in central Christchurch operating without a consent - a huge drop from the 84 in 2021, when the council started to crack down on gravel pit owners.

Wilson Parking, which operates the vast majority of public car parks in central Christchurch, has borne the brunt of complaints about gravel pit car parks. However, a company spokesperson said each site’s consent was unique and the responsibility for it was not always theirs - as was the case with the Armagh/Colombo St site.

The company will be obligated to check the site for maintenance issues twice a week - including filling in pot holes, but only after the upgrade.