archived.ccc.govt.nz

This page is not a current Christchurch City Council document. Please read our disclaimer.
The Mayor's Office 1998-2007
  The Mayor's Office: Garry Moore 1998-2007

Property Institute of New Zealand Conference

Friday 16 June 2006

We are at a very interesting point in the region’s development. This is the year of the Long Term Council Community Plan, a ten year plan, the Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy and Transit NZ’s latest ten year plan. All of these will have an impact on the future planning and development of the city.

According to the latest census Christchurch, has an 8% population growth, and is sitting between two districts showing much higher numbers, Waimakariri with 15% growth and Selwyn with 22%. Why is this? Are the city’s land prices too high? Is it a lifestyle choice?

Whatever the reason the city is becoming the meat in the sandwich and this growth is causing a lot of pressure on our transport networks and facilities.

The Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy is being developed to manage the predicted growth in the Selwyn, Waimakariri and Christchurch areas. It is a collaborative initiative that includes Environment Canterbury and Transit New Zealand.

The public consultation process of the Greater Christchurch UDS has seen an overwhelming preference for more concentrated growth and protecting rural landscapes. Of course, this is what people want in a perfect world, what is actually happening are an increasing number of developments outside the city boundary.

Development of land depends on having the infrastructure right. This is what the Greater Christchurch UDS is about.

Water, roads, sewage, all have an impact on how the city grows.

Canterbury has fallen behind nationally with our proportion of roading funds. I have lobbied extensively for us to receive our fair share of resources and I traveled to Wellington at the end of last year seeking roading funds for Christchurch. Transit NZ dropped a bombshell when it said that the Southern Motorway would not go ahead until 2012. Fortunately, because of the concerted effort by myself and Councillors the Southern Motorway is now planned for 2009 and realistically it will take that line to get the planning in place. What we have to work on now is the Northern Motorway and that is a job for the implementation phase of the Greater Christchurch UDS.

The last few weeks of public submissions to the Long Term Council Community Plan has been particularly interesting to me because of the quality and depth of analysis the city’s development community put into our draft development contributions policy.

Developers are obviously very worried that the kinds of numbers coming out, because when they run their financial models they find them so steep as to almost make there businesses uneconomic.

No decisions have been made as yet but it is obvious something we will have to look at. The feeling I get around the Council table is that we need to take more time to make sure we have got the numbers right between asking new developments to pay a share of the cost of growth and what the rest of the city should pay to make sure that we keep growing.

I think the process has been really good so far and although the city is facing real challenges I think this planning process is sound and robust and will produce good results for the city.

This page is not a current Christchurch City Council document. Please read our disclaimer.
© Christchurch City Council, Christchurch, New Zealand | Contact the Council