Christchurch City unanimously supports ECan

26 July 2007

The Christchurch City Council has voted unanimously to support Environment Canterbury in its move to change the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement.

At a meeting of the Council yesterday, Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore, said that the Council wanted to congratulate Environment Canterbury for taking action on changing the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement (CRPS).

The City Council was responding to the Environment Canterbury (Canterbury Regional Council) decision yesterday to publicly notify changes to the CRPS. In doing this, Environment Canterbury has helped bring Greater Christchurch residents are a step closer to the future they asked for in Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy (UDS) consultation.

Launched last month, the UDS, which represents the strategic planning partners: Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury, Selwyn and Waimakariri District Councils and Transit New Zealand, advocates changing urban development in Greater Christchurch to protect water, enhance open spaces, improve transport links and create liveable centres while managing population growth in a sustainable way.

To achieve this, changes are needed in the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement (CRPS) and the Natural Resources Regional Plan (NRRP) - which Environment Canterbury is responsible for by law.

Environment Canterbury is proposing to insert a chapter ‘Development of Greater Christchurch’ into the CRPS containing policies for managing the growth, development and enhancement of Greater Christchurch, and a series of detailed maps, including:

• setting urban limits for Christchurch and the surrounding towns;
• identifying areas where urban activities and development will not be permitted;
• setting residential densities for urban and rural development;
• sequencing development at specific locations; and
• identifying key activity centres where retail and business development will occur.

The NRRP variation covers the requirements for development in the Christchurch groundwater recharge zone, the source of Christchurch’s drinking water.

The proposed change and variation, with the detailed planning maps, are available for viewing on the ECan website at www.ecan.govt.nz or at any City Council library or service centre. Environment Canterbury invites submissions. The deadline for making submissions is Wednesday 31 October 2007.

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