Property Council

Wednesday 25 October 2006

Thank you for the opportunity of speaking to you today.

I would like to first acknowledge the huge contribution your industry makes to the prosperity of Christchurch. It is a vital and successful part of our city’s economy.

You are risk takers, in fact developers are the opposite of planners. Planners avoid risk at every possible step of the way. Planners will try and avoid risk by saying an activity is technically impossible for reasons too complicated to explain, or say it’s technically possible but unsustainable. If you’ve got a problem, planners will set upon it like a starved poodle on a lamb chop.

It is your lot to challenge planners at every step of the way. When the rest of us see low tide property-developers see subdivisions. You are life’s optimists. When you see Living 1, you try and change it to Living 3.

To achieve a dynamic and beautiful city that is well designed and easy to get around we need to work together developers, planners, community and Council. A well designed attractive city is a plus for everyone.

My vision for the centre of Christchurch is of a vibrant business sector and a vital and energised residential sector. I don’t want a city centre that fills with office workers in the morning and becomes an empty streetscape in the evening.

My vision fits with a sustainable future. More people living close to work means less stress on roading and parking infrastructure. People can keep fitter walking to work and we cut down on our use of petrochemicals.

My vision fits with the Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy. One thing public consultation has told us is that the people of Canterbury don’t want a huge conurbation stretching across the plains.

People like to feel they are living in a village. The outcry against the possibility of closing libraries brought that home to Council. The UDS will encourage people to live close to good services such as a library and supermarket.

The development of the city lanes has been exciting and those involved are to be congratulated on high quality urban design and planning. There needs to be ease of movement for people on foot with good access to shops and businesses throughout the central city. The development of the Lichfield Lanes and South of Lichfield have presented unique opportunities for the central city.

The lanes redevelopment are a good example of a partnership between Council and developers. It is the sort of mixed use development that the city needs. The proposed Lanes Plan has been agreed to by Council and the plan will provide some guidance on redevelopment. This will go out for public consultation shortly.

The Turners and Growers site will soon be no more, as the Urban Winery takes shape. Resource consents have been granted for stage 1 which includes a winery with ground floor retail, a serviced apartment block, refurbishment of buildings on Madras Street and car parking.

The draft Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy goes out for public consultation on the 6th November. This is your chance to have your say on a big project that is aimed at giving certainty to residents and developers. It starts a new way of working together, Council, developers and the community. The Property Council has been involved with developing the strategy and it is important we continue to develop the collaborative approach.

City Mall consultation has just concluded. I think the plans we have developed are great and I am looking forward to hearing the feedback from the public.

The Bus Exchange has been a success story. The present building has reached capacity and at the moment a report is being prepared on the best way forward. Expansion on the present site or relocation, whatever is finally decided, building a bus exchange has proved its worth to commuters.

The outcome of the Bus Exchange decisions and the proposed two waying of Lichfield Street are interrelated. To change Lichfield Street to two way will have significant implications on the transport network and property owners and occupiers.

At present Lichfield Street is a heavily used arterial road and this detracts from the street as a pedestrian friendly area, which is what we want to see in the central city. To change the designation will have a domino affect on the transport network and the options have to be looked at carefully. More work for the planners!

Development contributions - you will notice I have left the best till last! I believe that incentives are needed to really push the revitalisation of the central city and getting the development contributions right is the key. The Development Contributions Policy review is currently underway. A working party has been established and is due to report its draft findings back to Council in December and this will drive changes to the policy which will then be put through the special consultative process.

Again we have a range of industry representatives on the working party. This group is broadly representative of the development industry and I believe their input will help bring about a good result for everyone.

Some of you can be stand proud in the knowledge that you have added buildings to the city that will be part of its heritage in 100 years. This is what I want to, a beautiful city for our children’s children. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you this morning.