The Star: September 19, 2019

The Star Thursday September 19 2019
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Cash.
15K
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at Christchurch Casino
Thu $10K
Fri $5k
free to enter
To enter, receive a free wristband when
you visit on Thursdays & Fridays.
Winners must be present. T’s & C’s apply.
0800 casino | 30 victoria st
10
NEWS
Council childcare vote next week
• By Louis Day
CITY councillors will decide next
week whether to adopt a policy
which would see their childcare
expenses paid for by ratepayers.
If adopted by the council, city
councillors and community board
members would be eligible to an
allowance only if their child is
under 14 and the childcare is not
• By Claire Booker
BUS LANES may be prioritised
to alleviate congestion from a
motorway extension being built
through St Albans.
The Northern Motorway is
being extended through to QEII
Drive and Cranford St and when
completed will effectively slice St
Albans in half. It will also add an
extra 48,000 vehicles a day.
Residents have
tried to fight
the extension,
but all that can
be done now
is to find ways
to alleviate the
amount of traffic
coming through
the suburb.
The Linwood-
Central-Heathcote and Papanui-
Innes community boards listened
to emotional and angry residents
over the proposal at a special
meeting last week. Then four days
later they made their recommendations
and said prioritising bus
use will help. They said this should
take precedence over installing a
clearway. A clearway is a no stopping
area that allows traffic to flow
more freely.
Cranford St was planned to be
used as a clearway once the extension
opens next year. But with the
Linwood-Central-Heathcote and
Papanui-Innes community boards
recommendation, this means the
bus lane could take priority.
The boards also asked city council
staff to look at park and ride
options near QEII Drive.
The decision will now go to the
city council on Tuesday.
Papanui-Innes board member
and city councillor Mike Davidson
said the boards were never going
to be able to create a perfect outcome
for the community
“So what we’re trying to achieve
is the best outcome with the
limited ability we do have. No one
PASSION: Former St Albans
Residents Association
chairwoman Emma Twaddell
was frustrated to be
submitting to the community
boards again.
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN ​
wants the motorway, if we had
made a decision today on whether
we should have done a motorway,
it would have never happened,” he
said.
provided by a family member.
Childcare allowances are
also limited to $6000 a year per
child.
City councillors are paid
$102,400 whereas the pay of community
board members varies between
$9864 and $24, 580, chairs
of community boards are paid up
to $49,160.
The new policy from the Remuneration
Authority was released at
the start of July and has been left
to individual councils across New
Zealand to decide whether to adopt
it or not.
The policy was prompted by
Hurunui District councillor
Julia McLean after she asked
the Remuneration Authority to
subsidise childcare for parents in
elected local government roles.
Bus lanes mooted to alleviate
congestion from new motorway
Mark Wilson
FUNDRAISING EFFORTS of a
New Brighton group will enable extra
elements to be added to the planned
He Puna Taimoana hot pools.
The Pier and Foreshore Society
raised $15,000 to support the hot
pools’ development through fundraising
activities at the annual New
Brighton Duke Festival of Surfing.
It has now donated the money to
Development Christchurch Ltd.
CONGESTION: The proposed clearways on Cranford St may
be used for public transport to help mitigate the effects of
the Christchurch Northern Corridor through St Albans.
DCL chief executive Rob Hall
said the donation will be used
to add elements to He Puna Taimoana,
which are not included in
the existing budget.
“DCL will work with the society
to decide exactly what that will be.
Initial ideas include the possibility
of extra accessibility features or
seating, but decisions will be made
collaboratively.”
All board members apart from
Linwood-Central board member
and city councillor Yani Johanson
voted in favour of the recommendations.
“I’m really concerned that the
plan is actually going to create a lot
of problems on other streets,” Cr
Johanson said.
Cr Johanson thinks the improvements
are not the right
approach and wasn’t convinced
Environment Canterbury would
fund the proposed public transport
lanes on Cranford St.
“I can’t see any likelihood that
Ecan would have the money to be
able to fund more public transport,”
he said.
St Albans resident Mark Wilson
said overall he is feeling good
about the recommendations.
“They will prepare the road for
more traffic, but they won’t allow
that traffic to have two or four
lanes flow on. That’s the minimum
really that we’ve been going on
about. I think it’s a good decision,”
he said.
Hot pools get $15k funding boost
“From the beginning, the
development of hot pools in New
Brighton has been a community
project. The Pier and Foreshore
Society has been a champion of the
development right from the start
and its support has helped make
He Puna Taimoana happen. The
donation of $15,000 represents a
massive fundraising effort by a
community group,” Mr Hall said.