The Star: April 12, 2018

4 Thursday April 12 2018
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
The Star
Hospital parking
No relief in sight
• By Bridget Rutherford
GREATER Christchurch
regeneration minister Megan
Woods says work is being
done behind the scenes to
find solutions to Christchurch
Hospital’s parking woes.
But she can’t yet say when
changes will be made, and if any
relief will come before winter.
Christchurch MPs, city council
and Canterbury District Health
Board representatives have
teamed up to find solutions for
the lack of parking options near
the hospital, and the state of the
privately-owned Deans Ave car
park where the park and ride
service operates from.
“We’ve got to leave no stone
unturned. Winter’s coming,” Dr
Woods said yesterday.
She is tasked with investigating
long-term options for parking
until a permanent car parking
building is constructed in 2020.
They included opportunities
for parking in the South Frame,
or the Metro Sports Facility land,
she said. But she would not say
more until an announcement
about the Metro Sport Facility
was made later this month.
Using the Lichfield St car park
for hospital parking was another
Megan Woods Duncan Webb Ruth Dyson
option being investigated, Dr
Woods said.
“We’re driving it as fast as we
can after a period of inaction by
the previous government.”
The Deans Ave car park is
owned and operated by Global
Edge Properties, which gets the
parking revenue. The CDHB
runs the free shuttles and installed
the shelter on site.
Christchurch Central MP Duncan
Webb has been working with
the city council on the condition
of the Deans Ave car park, and
whether its surface is compliant
with its resource consent.
He said ultimately it was up to
the CDHB as to what solutions it
wanted to implement, including
more shelter, and when.
“We’ve got to do it before
weather like this comes back.”
City council head of regulatory
compliance Tracey Weston said
the car park’s resource consent
required some asphalt patching
so it had an even surface to prevent
trips and falls.
She said the investigation into
whether it complied was ongoing.
The CDHB has said there
was no funding to install extra
shelter. It has asked Global Edge
Properties on “numerous occasions”
to fix the uneven surface.
The CDHB was unable to respond
before The Star’s deadline
yesterday.
Port Hills MP Ruth Dyson said
the winter deadline was still the
“ideal” goal.
“We haven’t got there yet,
there’s a few things floated
around.”
‘It’s really annoying,
• By Julia Evans
LOUISE LEWIS is 25 weeks
pregnant with her second child.
It’s a “high risk” pregnancy,
she said.
That means she’s been using
the park and ride service “quite
a lot” recently, having to go into
hospital regularly for check-ups,
making sure she and the baby are
okay.
“If there’s something wrong
this time, I’ll have to come in
every two weeks and that will
be really hard when it’s like
this,” she said as the hail fell on
Tuesday.
Her 10-month-old son,
Damian, was wrapped in a
blanket. He didn’t take his head
off his mother’s chest.
“It’s really annoying, I can’t
get the pram out with the potholes,
so I have to carry him,” she
said.
Ms Lewis said something
needed to be done.
David and Wendy Heenan
have to go to the hospital regularly.
Mr Heenan has cancer and
was going in to have a check up.
When asked what he thought
about the condition of the car
park, he laughed.
“What condition? It’s just
shocking.”
Louise Lewis
He said the Government
should be doing more to fix the
car park and extend the shelter,
including running the service
more frequently.
“It’s like something you would
see in a third world country,
not in New Zealand. Something
needs to be done to ensure the
public are safe, because left like
this, they’re not safe.”
Mr Heenan said it was demeaning
for patients who are
suffering already.