The Star: September 17, 2020

The Star Thursday September 17 2020
14
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Resident told to get rid of vehicles
• By Louis Day
A BUSINESS owner claims the
city council has left him with no
choice but to “run his business
into the ground.”
Abell Rentals founding director
Allan Scott said he had to
move his about 200-strong
vehicle fleet from the inner-city
premises it was occupying to his
4ha residential property in Avonhead,
as the 30-year-old vehicle
rental company began to feel the
pinch of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It just got tougher and tougher
so we moved out and suspended
our lease on a temporary basis.
With the pandemic, international
travel is basically gone, which is
something our business heavily
relies on,” he said.
However, the city council issued
Scott with a directive,
ordering him to remove all
vehicles from his property by
October 27.
The city council said it had received
two complaints about the
vehicles and that storing them at
the residence was in breach of the
District Plan.
Scott said this has left him with
no choice but to sell his vehicle
fleet and “run his business into
the ground.”
Scott called on the city council
to rescind the directive, or provide
some free accommodation
for his vehicle fleet, but to no
NOT HAPPY: Abell Rentals founding director Allan Scott stands outside his property
where he is currently storing about 150 vehicles.
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
avail. Storing the vehicles at his
property was only a temporary
measure until the borders reopened,
he said.
There are currently 150 vehicles
at the residence, he said.
City council head of regulatory
compliance Tracey Weston said it
began looking into the issue after
receiving two complaints about
the storage of vehicles at Scott’s
residence.
“Our regulatory compliance
unit commenced an investigation,
which has confirmed that
under the District Plan rules the
commercial storing of vehicles
at this site is not allowed as it is
a rural-urban fringe zone,” she
said.
“We wrote to Allan Scott advising
that he had two options in
order to comply with the District
Plan; either apply for a resource
consent for the activity to continue
at his property or to move
the cars to an alternate site where
it is allowed.
“Typically in these circumstances,
we would give people
‘Personally I have survived
a lot, I have come through
a couple of divorces, I have
come through a stroke, I
have come through the
earthquakes, but there is
no way I could survive the
city council.’
– Allan Scott
28 days to pursue either of these
options. In this case, under
the current circumstances, we
have given Mr Scott 60 days to
comply.”
Scott said he had no choice
but to sell the cars as he was
not in a financial position to
store them somewhere else and
thought the process of applying
for resource consent would
prove to be “futile and extremely
expensive.”
He will now be selling them off
in what he is calling the “CCC
(Christchurch City Council)
Forced Car Sale.”
“I don’t have the money and I
don’t have the energy to survive
this,” Scott said.
“Personally I have survived a
lot, I have come through a couple
of divorces, I have come through
a stroke, I have come through
all the earthquakes, but there is
no way I could survive the city
council.”
Feel right at home at
Bishop Selwyn Village
•
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•RECENTLY REFURBISHED VILLAS
Hi, I’m Lyn Purdon Village Manager at Bishop
Selwyn Village.
Our residents love living here and everyone does
feel like they’re right at home.
We warmly invite you to come along to see why
Bishop Selwyn Village could be your new home.
To make a socially distanced private
appointment on Saturday 26 or Sunday 27
September please contact me on 03 379 4044
or email:
manager.bishopselwyn@ultimatecare.co.nz
Bishop Selwyn Village, 350 Selwyn Street, Spreydon
www.ultimatecare.co.nz
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