Bay Harbour: May 19, 2021

Wednesday May 19 2021 Bay Harbour News
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Community board
weighs in on rock issue
• By Samantha Mythen
THE CITY council must
provide a plan to remove excess
rocks from Clifton Beach, as
requested by Redcliffs residents,
and now supported by their
community board.
The Redcliffs Residents
Association took a deputation
to the Waikura/Linwood-Central-Heathcote
Community
Board last Wednesday.
They asked the community
board to request the city council
produce a concrete action plan
for removal of the rocks on
Clifton Beach.
These rocks were leftover from
roadworks done in 2019.
After hearing the deputation,
the community board decided
to pass a resolution requesting
an options report from the city
council for a plan to remove the
excess rocks.
Said community board
chairwoman Alexandra Davids:
“We are asking the city council
to produce a holistic plan and
time frame for when remediation
work can take place.”
They want to see an
explanation of costing, as well
as information on when and
DISAPPOINTED: Pat McIntosh with some of the rocks
that are sitting on Clifton Beach. PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
how the rocks will be removed.
This is in spite of Environment
Canterbury telling the city
council in April that removal of
the rocks is not a priority and
no action is currently required
for removal. The correspondence
from ECan comes after they held
last year, the city council was
non-compliant with their resource
consents for the roadwork that resulted
in the leftover rocks, meaning
the city council is eventually
required to remove the rocks.
During the meeting, it was
asked why the city council is
spending money on commissioning
reports on the origin
of the rocks, on challenging
the finding of non-compliance
with their original roadworks
consents and on seeking legal
opinions, instead of making a
plan for the rocks’ removal.
Residents’ association
secretary Pat McIntosh
said both it and the community
board shared disappointment in
the city council spending time,
money and effort on avoidance
measures rather than working
on a potential solution.
“From this length of time, it
is reasonable to expect the city
council is working on plans
for the rocks’ removal,” said
McIntosh.
She explained that although
currently, the rocks are not an
issue because they are covered
in sand, as confirmed by ECan,
the conditions will eventually
change and ECan’s order will
have to be re-visited.
“The city council needs to have
plans in place,” McIntosh said.
Davids said it was disappointing
the city council was
spending ratepayers’ money on
challenging the non-compliance
rather than spending it on remediating
the issue.
The city council is wanting
to challenge ECan’s finding of
non-compliance.
Said city council transport
planning and delivery manager
Lynette Ellis:: “City council
does not consider that there is a
breach of the resource consent
and the non-compliance by
Environment Canterbury was
wrongly issued.”
She explained city council
held this view as it does not
consider the rocks to be ‘spoil’
or ‘waste material’ left on the
site, rather they are excavated
material that has been reused on
the site in compliance with the
consent.
NEWS 3
In Brief
FREEDOM CAMPING
The city council is calling for
public feedback on proposed
changes to the Freedom
Camping Bylaw. The bylaw has
been in place for five years and
it legally has to be reviewed.
The bylaw has generally been
working well, but city council
staff are recommending a small
number of changes, including
creating a specified area at Naval
Point in Lyttelton where freedom
campers can stay, and limiting
the number of freedom camping
spots to 18 vehicles.
CAR CRASH
Police attended a car crash in
Diamond Harbour at 4.30pm
on Friday. Only one car was
involved. It had left the road and
collided with a large boulder
causing it to overturn. Both
occupants were able to get out of
the car before emergency services
arrived and were lucky to suffer
only minor cuts and bruising.
LIBRARIES BUSY
THere has been a steady increase
of new library members enrolling
in Banks Peninsula libraries.
A total of 484 new members
enrolled since July 2020. There
are four city council run libraries
in the Banks Peninsula – In
Lyttelton, Diamond Harbour,
Little River and Akaroa.
JOIN US NOW!
See website for details
Care &
Compassion
We pride ourselves on the
very highest level of service
If you are thinking about the future, we can help
you explore pre-payment and pre-planning options.
Contact us for a Free Information Pack.
We offer funeral information talks to groups.
Please call us for a speaker to come to you.
(03) 379 0196 | www.simplicity.co.nz
Mark Glanville
Manager &
Funeral Director
Sumner Community
Drop-in Session
with Tracey McLellan, MP for Banks Peninsula
Matuku Takotako: Sumner Centre
14-16 Wakefield Avenue
Sunday 23 May, 10am – 11am
If you are unable to make the clinic please don’t
hesitate to contact me with any concerns or issues.
03 376 4512 | Tracey.McLellanMP@parliament.govt.nz
642 Ferry Road, Woolston, Christchurch
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