The Star: August 08, 2019

The Star Thursday August 8 2019
10
NEWS
• By Louis Day
ENVIRONMENT Canterbury’s
Central Constituency looks likely
to be the most hotly contested in
October’s local body elections.
Independents Lan Pham and
Axel Wilke, Independent Citizens’
Evan Harris and Felicity
Price will contest the two seats
with The People’s Choice set to
put forward two candidates of
their own.
Mr Harris said he is seeking to
ease restrictions on wood burners.
But he says there is no conflict
of interest in spite of being a
director for a wood burner
manufacturing business.
In January ECan began enforcing
a rule allowing only ultra-low
emission burners to be installed
in properties less than 2ha, which
are two to three times more expensive
than low emission burners
to install at up to $9000.
Mr Harris is the director of finance
for Woodsman Fires where
they sell ultra-low and also low
emission burners.
He wanted to see the rule
changed back to what it used to
be when low emission burners
were allowed to be installed in all
properties.
Mr Harris said the rule change
has affected businesses.
“Some are doing better, some
are doing not as well,” he said.
Mr Harris said changing the
rule would not benefit his business,
but benefit the people who
can not afford the ultra-low emission
burners.
“We have now got a significant
part of the population who
look at the cost of reinstallment
and can’t afford it, so what do
they do? Do they take on massive
debt and do it? Do they not use
their fire and run up triple their
electricity bill or do they just
keep illegally using their own
burner?”
Right-leaning political group
Independent Citizens will
partner Mr Harris with the
chairwoman of the Arts Centre
Felicity Price.
Ms Price, who was a recipient
of the Queen’s honour ONZM for
saving the Court Theatre after the
2011 earthquakes, thought she
had the experience to get things
done for Christchurch.
Mr Wilke, a transport specialist
and former technical adviser
to John Key, is teaming up with
news online at www.star.kiwi
Hot contest for ECan Central
Lan Pham Axel Wilke Evan Harris Felicity Price
sitting councillor and freshwater
ecologist Ms Pham in a bid to
take out both seats.
Left-leaning political group
The People’s Choice originally
intended of running Community
Action on Youth and Drugs senior
project worker Paul McMahon
and union worker Anthony
Rimell.
However, it withdrew Mr
Rimell from running for ECan
so he could challenge the city
council’s Riccarton Ward.
This came after the group was
left scrambling to find a candidate
after Vicki Buck announced
she would not be running for
re-election.
Ms Buck is a candidate the leftleaning
group would have been
relying on to help them achieve
their agenda of preventing asset
sales.
The People’s Choice president
Keir Leslie said they were hoping
to announce a candidate to
partner Mr McMahon in the near
future.
Residents still unhappy
with Northern Arterial plan
• By Claire Booker
RESIDENTS ARE unhappy
with the city council’s revised
plan to reduce traffic in St
Albans once the Northern
Arterial Motorway is built.
St Albans Residents
Association chairwoman
Emma Twaddell said the
updated plan does not do
enough to reduce congestion
and carbon emissions. She says
the city council is not showing
leadership after it declared a
climate emergency.
The controversial Downstream
Effects Management Plan was
revised after the city council
opted not to endorse it. The
original plan did not address
traffic volumes on Cranford St
which are expected to more than
double from an existing 21,000
vehicles a day to 48,000 vehicles
a day within five years.
However, some of the revised
plan’s major objectives to reduce
traffic, such as public transport
and high occupancy vehicle
lanes, have been described as
a project for the future in the
plan’s consultation document.
Residents are frustrated
because under the plan the lanes
won’t be completed by the time
the motorway extension opens
late next year.
Said Ms Twaddell: “Have they
forgotten they declared a climate
change emergency a month ago?
Where is the courage to make a
change that is urgently required to
reduce carbon emissions now?”
Said city council transport
planning and delivery manager
Lynette Ellis: “These projects are
not part of the initial package of
works we’re proposing in the St
Albans, Edgeware and Mairehau
areas, but they are part of the
big-picture approach. We have
also designed the initial package
of work to allow for bus or carpooling
lanes to be added in
when this work is complete.”
However, Ms Twaddell said
the city council needs to move
faster.
“We can’t lower our emissions
without better transport options
which allow this. But once
again, the city council is focused
on using our rate money to
accommodate single-occupant
commuter traffic and at the
detriment to many of their
residents,” she said.
City councillor Mike Davidson
said the revised plan is not perfect.
“The proposal that’s gone out
was never going to be perfect
because when you throw a
motorway into a suburb, it’s
always going to create bad
outcomes. But what we’re trying
to achieve is something good out
of it.”
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