Pegasus Post: April 01, 2019

PEGASUS POST Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Tuesday April 2 2019 5
Coastal residents outline inquiry for mayor
• By Julia Evans
THE TERMS of an independent
inquiry have been laid out by
coastal residents for Mayor
Lianne Dalziel in the wake of
District Plan changes.
Ms Dalziel responded to the
call for an independent inquiry
from city councillor David East,
who previously claimed a clause,
giving leeway
to people in
specific coastal
areas deemed at
risk of flooding
to build
and extend
homes, was
intentionally
David East
left out of the
District Plan.
“I have been holding
informal conversations with the
Christchurch Coastal Residents
United regarding the issues
that need to be independently
reviewed . . . I advised (Cr East)
informally last year that I was
going to work with CCRU on
this matter,” she said.
CCRU chairman Simon Watts
said it has laid out the terms of
reference for an independent
review and delivered that to Ms
Dalziel.
“It’s necessary, the community
has been quite anxious. There are
a lot of overarching questions,”
he said. Cr East also said it
was a good step forward. “I’m
happy with the work the CCRU
has done, it’ll just be up to the
council now to react,” he said.
An audit, which the city
council commissioned, by
Environment Canterbury
councillor and former
Environment Court judge Peter
Skelton found there never was a
missing clause.
However, Cr East said the
Skelton audit did not address a
number of irregularities or how
the clause came to be missing
and an independent inquiry was
necessary. He said the saga had
highlighted issues with some
aspects of the city council’s
culture.
But a city council
spokesperson said Cr East had
not raised any specific concerns
with the council relating to the
claims about its culture and it
had not received any further
word from him.
Cr East’s claim the plan
had been tampered with was
backed by Coastal-Burwood
INVESTIGATE:
The terms
of reference
of an
independent
inquiry into
how a clause
was left out
of the District
Plan have
been laid out
for Mayor
Lianne Dalziel
by the CCRU.
Community Board chairwoman
Kim Money and deputy
chairman Tim Sintes, and
Linwood-Central-Heathcote
Community Board member
Darrell Latham – who all face
code of conduct complaints.
As a result of the comments,
Greater Christchurch
Regeneration Minister Megan
Woods approved the city
council’s proposal to amend
the District Plan under section
71 of the Greater Christchurch
Regeneration Act.
Local
News
Now
Still waiting for
school crossing
safety report
Fire rages, homes at risk
•From page 1
Ms Norris said it was unclear
after a six-month wait whether
the city council would provide
the full report.
Transport operations manager
Steffan Thomas said staff will
meet with the community board
on April 17 to confirm top
priority community transport
projects.
“Mairehau Primary School
and/or the St Francis of Assisi
School zebra crossings are being
considered. Staff will refine
options to improve the zebra
crossings if funding is allocated
to the project,” he said.
Ms Norris is frustrated
the process is taking so long and
the board will continue chasing
it up, she said. Mr Bangma has
worked at the school for 17 years
and said the problem has got
worse.
He said motorists speed
through the crossings even when
the signs are out before and after
school.
“The law is clear that when one
sign is out, regardless of which
side it’s on, that traffic must stop.
We get cars speeding up so they
can get through before the other
sign can be put out,” said Mr
Bangma.
Don’t assume your smoke alarms are working.
Push the button to check them this daylight saving weekend.
NFS0522_DLS_4_180x263