Bay Harbour: November 09, 2016

PAGE 4 BAY HARBOUR
Wednesday November 9 2016
News
New school site report outlines
The long-awaited Ministry of Education feasibility
report investigating site options for Redcliffs School
has just been released. Annabelle Dick looks into
the study and issues facing the park.
THE PROBLEMS facing
Redcliffs Park have come to light
as a newly-released Ministry of
Education report shows the site is
susceptible to rockfall, flooding
and tsunamis.
Following Education Minister
Hekia Parata’s announcement
last week that Redcliffs Park will
be the future site of Redcliffs
School, the ministry now has to
make a decision on where the
school will be located within the
park.
In a Ministry of Education
feasibility study, McCormacks
Bay Reserve and Barnett Park
were also explored as site options
but the former Main Rd school
site was not.
Three locations within Redcliffs
Park have been finalised as
the possible school site – location
A, location B and location C.
Location A sits on the eastern
boundary beside Celia St and
location B on the boundary near
Main Rd.
Location C was suggested as
an option by the Redcliffs School
Steering Group after the first
report was already completed.
It sits on the west and northwestern
boundary of the park
similar to Location B, but the
proposed site has been brought
forward about 20m inside the
park boundary with Main Rd.
Location C scored highest in
the ministry’s Methodology for
New School Site Evaluation.
But all of the locations sit
within problem areas in the city
council’s Proposed Replacement
Christchurch District Plan.
The three options fall in the
coastal environment overlay of
the replacement plan, which is at
risk from a tsunami.
In the feasibility report, chartered
professional engineer Nick
Harwood, an expert in geotechnical
engineering, believes the
former Main Rd site would be a
safer option.
“I am uncomfortable with proposals
to consider a new school
site in a mapped tsunami zone,
especially when there is a clear
option (Main Rd) that eliminates
the hazard zone. My gut feel is
that I’d be uncomfortable putting
my kids in a school with a
tsunami hazard,” he said.
NEW SITE: Redcliffs Park scored the highest compared to
McCormacks Bay Reserve and Barnett Park in a Ministry of
Education feasibility report on where Redcliffs School should
be located.
Redcliffs Park also sits within
Coastal Erosion Hazard Zone 1
and 2 and Coastal Inundation
Hazard Zone 1 and 2 on the city
council-commissioned Coastal
Hazards Assessment Report.
That means it’s susceptible to
coastal erosion over the next 50
years and coastal inundation
(flooding by the sea) in a one in
50-year storm event.
Location A would need about
1.5m of fill to bring it to the
minimum floor level required by
the city council.
The feasibility study says the
building platform for location
B is likely to be outside the area
subject to flooding or coastal
inundation, but the playing fields
and access roads wouldn’t.
Tonkin & Taylor also advised
that all of the sites have geotechnical
issues.
On location B, the replacement
plan shows Cliff Hazard Management
Area 2 runs 4m into the
site’s boundary.
Remediation work is being
done on the cliff face opposite the
site, but the site is likely to still
remain in the Cliff Hazard Management
Area 2 in the plan.
Redcliffs Park was also a landfill
and the activity affects the
western part of the site.
Tonkin & Taylor has assessed
a low to moderate potential soil
contamination issues, and low to
moderate potential for pesticide
contamination of sports field soil.
Location A is affected more
than location B, which mostly
sits above the closed landfill.
The report stated the site would
need to be carefully managed
during development as run-off
and sedimentation could seep
into the estuary.
Locations B and C are further
away from the estuary and the
report has listed them as a preferred
option for that reason.
All sites had cultural significance
and value investigated and
Mahaanui Kurataiao Ltd noted