Public invited to view high-rise scenarios and their affects in New Brighton

27 June 2006

Different scenarios of high-rise development on Marine Parade are being displayed at two Open Days at New Brighton Club on 29 and 30 June to gauge public opinion.

Christchurch City Council planner, Jonathan Clease, says the Open Days are not to display any particular options set in concrete, but to gauge what the public might prefer – given different high-density development scenarios and their likely environmental affects.

The two sessions:

• from 1pm to 5pm on Thursday 29 June, and
• 4pm to 8pm on Friday 30 June, at the J.C. Walsh Lounge, New Brighton Club (opposite the Whale Pool),
  are an opportunity for people to view various high-density displays at their leisure and ask questions of those who wrote the review in an informal setting.

The Open Days follow a meeting in March, attended by over 300 people, where the Council told residents that it planned to research whether or not high-density apartment development is appropriate for the residential block fronting Marine Parade, from Rawhiti Domain south to Shackleton Street and the business area surrounding New Brighton Mall.

Mr Clease says the review was a response to several factors. A number of developers had approached Council to build such apartments in the area and the community - through the New Brighton Master Plan – had indicated such development could help rejuvenate the area.

Rather than address the developer issues in a series of resource consents, which would revisit the same issues repeatedly in an ad hoc manner, the Council decided to consult the community and investigate the potential for environmental effects in this high-interest area through a single, comprehensive study, he says.

The review findings will then be opened for public consultation from 1 July to 4 August, when people can have their say on the future scale of development in New Brighton. The details on how you go about this, will be made available at the Open Days.

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