AvON River red zone map - Christchurch 2011
7.30pm Monday 31 Oct @ WEA, 59 Gloucester Street in Christchurch, a public meeting about the general issue of land “Zoning” and planning post-quake:
rehousing affected residents ; the proposed Avon-Otakaro Park and its range of hazards ; protecting versatile soils and the Chch green belt by encouraging settlement south-west ; good public transport infrastructure to guide re-development of Greater Christchurch ; food production and community resilience ; reforestation and its numerous values ; biodiversity ; renewable energy ; CERA Community Forum effectiveness ; etc.
All welcome. Tea/coffee and biscuits provided. Venue koha invited.
Note: Few interested in Cera strategy The Press 1 Nov 2011 ; CERA Recovery Strategy submissions closed 30 Oct after CERA Recovery Strategy Youth Jam @ Hagley Cafe / Community College 27 Oct 5:30-8:30pm by Social Innovation ; Sustainable Canterbury CERA submission here – SCMW-submCERA-301011 + Addenda:
15. Better resilience is needed. Christchurch is poorly prepared to cope with pending pressures from peak oil, peak phosphate and climate change. The city needs to embrace green energy and better design can reduce the need for fossil fuels.
16. The “private sector” of course includes home owners with renters. At the moment a lot of money is coming in to our economy through temporary accommodation insurance, and being passed on, by renters. For many that may last one year. What happens to the economy from then until the rebuild?
Need of planning for paying future insurance. To some extent remiums are likely to rise however carefully future building is done, to pay for the past damage. We need to look at what happens in places where insurance is too dear for the average home owner, and plan so quakes – or other environmental damage – have less impact overall.
Previously, member submissions were made to the GCUDS and to PC1 to the RPS. Requested were:
i. Strip Development along existing transport routes.
ii. Large, say 0.2 ha, sections, within walking or biking distance of the road/rail.
iii. A requirement for households to do biodiversity stewardship, and modern technology decentralised sewerage and energy systems. Managed tree placement would allow shelter from wind and sun, and economise water needs. Recreation/employment/garden food production would be at hand, allowing for some health aspects of the plan. Birds could return where few are at the moment. A house would not cover a great proportion of fertile land. Rural problems like isolation should be minimal.
CERA needs to work out the cost impact of replacing the centralised sewerage system. That needs to be done in depth. What is the cost of a centralised algae crude oil from sewage system in terms of production and insurance compared to decentralised. Note that dairy farms may be going that way.
Refs: Avon-Otakaro Network AvON “a vision for the Avon River red zone” + The Boulevard? “Maybe we have a name for our new green space by the Avon” CCLblog ; Cooperative Sections “Creating Affordable Sections Through Cooperative Action” ; Wider Earthquake Communities Action Network WeCan! ; Mixed views on Christchurch light rail The Press 06/10/2011 ; Advanced Living “Builders Christchurch – sustainable development within residential construction.. eco-friendly approach – meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.. toxicity free, energy saving materials and technologies that provide significant performance benefits within all built environments with the cost of these new technologies being directly comparable” ; Trees ‘boost African crop yields and food security’ Environment BBC News 16 October 2011 + Fuel for Africa’s fires ‘wood running out.. charcoal clues to best trees to plant.. Agroforestry is arguably the single most important discipline for the future of sustainable agriculture in Africa’ New Scientist 30 Jul 1987 pp.48-51 + Trees for Africa “answer is to let local people manage natural forests, and to encourage farmers to plant trees in fields and pastures” New Scientist New Scientist 14 May 1987 pp.54-57 ; etc.
Push for 45,000 new homes in Christchurch TVNZ Fairfax 15 October 2011:
The Government is using special earthquake powers to redraw greater Christchurch’s urban development area, potentially paving the way for more than 45,000 new houses.
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said yesterday that he had pulled Christchurch’s urban growth plan out of the Environment Court, where it could have stalled for two years, and put it into the region’s planning documents.
A public notice, to appear in newspapers on Monday, will make the change official, rezoning large areas of previously rural land earmarked for development by 2041.
Brownlee said land already identified for growth in plan change one to the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement was needed now.
He was unwilling to see the matter bogged down in a protracted Environment Court battle.
“As of [today], there is no document for the Environment Court to consider.”
He said that once district plan changes and consents had been obtained, and seismic tests carried out, the rezoned land could be developed to accommodate thousands of people displaced by the quakes.
It includes areas in Christchurch on which 25,000 houses could be built, as well as about 11,000 houses each in the Selwyn and Waimakariri districts.
“Clearly, the city is going to move around in a different way than what was planned,” Brownlee said. “This was meant to be a plan out to 2041.”
The new chapter of the regional policy statement also makes provision for businesses.
Brownlee said the changes would require more intensive use of land within existing urban areas and provide for greenfield developments.
“They will accommodate both the population relocation forced by the earthquakes and population growth as the pace of rebuilding and development quickens,” Brownlee said.
Since February’s massive earthquake, the Government has red-zoned more than 6000 properties in Christchurch and Waimakariri, meaning the land is too damaged to be built on without being remediated and will have to be abandoned.
Concerns have been raised by the owners of the damaged land, as well as Opposition politicians, about the dearth of sections available in and around the city and the premium prices demanded for sections and houses in undamaged suburbs.
The Government’s announcement is good news for developers who have land within the urban development boundaries.
Environment Canterbury had already asked the Environment Court to redraw its housing development lines to include areas such as the 2700-section Prestons project and other peripheral sites.
Prestons Road chairman David Schwartfeger, who is also Ngai Tahu Property’s development manager, said a plan-change decision on the subdivision was imminent and the Government’s move was a positive step.
“We’re keen to get going and put people back into homes,” he said.
Redrawing the boundaries was supported by the Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri councils, ECan and some developers.
However, other landowners who went to court to have their land included within the urban growth limits are unhappy.
Russell McVeagh partner James Gardner-Hopkins said his client, supermarket giant Progressive, which owns land at Marshland, was reflecting on the implications of the decision.
Disgruntled developers might push to have their land rezoned when the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority considers the city’s infrastructure recovery plan.
The Selwyn District Council said a plan change had been approved to rezone 822 hectares in Rolleston and Lincoln on which almost 9000 residential sections could be created.
+ Residents unhappy with quake rebuild approval (1:50) tvnz.co.nz 17:08PM Sunday 30 October 2011 + Friday release ‘buries’ land report “Lianne Dalziel is incensed the Government released an important land report on a Friday” + Red-zoned, but still renovating The Press 01/11/2011
CERA: 6430 orange zone properties turned green 28 October 2011
Canterbury Regional Policy Statement – Chapter 12A “Government has made changes.. to provide certainty to enable local authorities and developers to make land available for post earthquake residential development”
Update: Trust plans to reduce section costs The Press 05/12/2011 + Cera may use powers in low-cost sections “for red-zone residents could be fast-tracked using special quake legislation” 06/12/2011
Sustainable Canterbury 
Great article 😉