The Star: August 08, 2019

growing population
Transport specialist and
former adviser to John Key,
Axel Wilke, said having more
people living in the city will
help, but is not the complete
answer to reducing commuter
flows and pressure on transport
infrastructure.
“There is nothing
fundamentally wrong with there
being housing development in
Selwyn or the Waimakariri, but
those should be
alongside, or
very close to,
rapid transport
corridors,” he
said.
“With rapid
transport
available,
Adam
Thompson
people in the
outer districts
would not have
to drive, or they will be better
off not driving, because rapid
transport gets them there faster
and more reliably.”
Selwyn will take on 20 per
cent of the housing demand
with a target of 17,290 new
homes and Waimakariri the
remaining 15 per cent with a
target of 13,360.
Urban economist Adam
Thompson said urban expansion
is likely to have an impact on
agriculture but this would be “a
small price to pay.”
TIME TO BUILD: The Selwyn district has a target of 17,290
new homes by 2048, while Waimakariri aims to have
another 13,360.
PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
“New Zealand has the highest
agricultural exports per capita
of any country in the world,
and it also has some of the most
unaffordable housing. In my
opinion, affordable housing
is a more pressing issue for
the country than agricultural
production,” he said.
Mr Thompson is concerned
the Selwyn district does not have
the land to keep up with the
demand.
A minimum net density of 12
households per hectare will be
implemented in Rolleston, which
currently has a net density of 10
households per hectare.
Power line monitoring
by helicopter in
your area
news online at www.star.kiwi
But Mr Thompson says at the
current rate, Rolleston will run
out of undeveloped land by 2025.
“Towns like Rolleston are
providing most of the city’s
affordable housing and are in
strong demand, particularly by
young families. The amount of
land that Our Space has allocated
for these towns isn’t enough to
keep pace with this demand,” he
said.
“Rolleston needs a buffer
of around eight to 10 years of
undeveloped land to ensure there
is enough land for builders and
prices are not pushed up at a fast
rate.”
NEWS 7
Man charged after
mother buys back toy
• By Sophie Cornish
A MOTHER took matters
into her own hands after her
daughter’s electric ride-on car
was stolen then posted for sale on
Facebook just hours later.
Shirley resident Alysha
Kinnaird became frustrated after
reporting the burglary to police
and being told it may take a few
days for action to be taken.
Miss Kinnaird’s garage was
broken into and her two-year-old
daughter’s toy electric car worth
$450, a $300 fitness machine and
a $500 trampoline still in its box
were stolen on July 27.
“I rang the police. They just
took some notes down and said if
I find out any more information
to let them know. So I posted
on the buy/sell pages for people
to look out for anyone selling
the items. Then about an hour
later, I got flooded with all these
messages of screen-shots of this
person selling the ride-on. It
looked pretty dodgy because they
were selling it for $70, I brought it
for $450. He was saying they sell
for $200.”
The seller lived just around the
corner. Miss Kinnaird pretended
to be an interested buyer and
then asked her ex-partner to go
around and buy the ride-on car.
“I knew it was mine because
when they stole it they forgot to
Thursday August 8 2019 The Star
BUY BACK: A single mother
had to buy back her
daughter’s ride-on car after
it was stolen.
take the charger and the key and
he didn’t have the charger or the
key and my remote had the back
off it, and it had the back off and
had the batteries I had brought
for it.
“I rung the cops back and
explained it was mine and that I
can prove it was mine. They said
no one was available, it could
take a few days and that to call
them back if I had any more
information. So I said, well, they
are literally just around the road
and all my other stuff will be sold
by then.”
A 21-year-old man has since
been charged with burglary and
is due to appear in the district
court on August 26.
self storage park
Every two years we use a low-flying helicopter to carry
out routine aerial surveys of some power lines in the Orion
network. This is an integral part of our ongoing maintenance
programme to ensure your power stays on.
The helicopter will operate in the following areas
on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 August:
• Heathcote, Bromley, Barnett Park, Halswell,
Islington, Springston, Papanui, Addington
• Banks Peninsula
Including Diamond Harbour, Little River,
Duvauchelle, Motukarara, Teddington
To find out more, go to:
oriongroup.co.nz
03 363 9898 | 0800 363 9898
The work is being
undertaken by
Christchurch Helicopters.
The hours of work are
typically from 6am – 5pm.
In the event of bad
weather, this work will
be postponed until the
following week
Tuesday 20 and
Wednesday 21 August.
opening
special...
1st month
free
Terms and
conditions apply
• Secured monitored facility
• Competitive rates
• 20ft and 10ft
350 Wilsons Road, Waltham
Phone 0800 326 001
containers
More
&
container solutions
www.containersmore.co.nz