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6<br />
Thursday <strong>September</strong> 9 <strong>2021</strong><br />
READER’S LETTER<br />
June Peka responds<br />
to last week’s <strong>Western</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong> article on housing<br />
intensification<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
WESTERN NEWS<br />
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LAYBY WELCOME<br />
Fiona Ellis’s report on the<br />
concerns of Hornby folk over<br />
intensive housing mirrors<br />
many more in the same nature<br />
over the past year or two.<br />
Single houses being replaced<br />
by five to seven tall, small units<br />
is not uncommon in many of<br />
our older suburbs.<br />
Those of us who object are<br />
branded nimbys, but let’s be<br />
clear, it’s not people or housing<br />
we object to. It is ugly and<br />
inappropriate-to-area housing<br />
that disturbs and rankles<br />
long-term settled residents<br />
and upsets the continuation<br />
of heritage, balance of nature,<br />
amenity, the environment, history<br />
and local culture.<br />
We’d welcome families, but<br />
children and their paraphernalia<br />
do not fit well in 70 sq m.<br />
And few needy families could<br />
afford the $600k-$800k price<br />
tag.<br />
In one St Albans street<br />
there are currently three such<br />
complexes being built. Twenty<br />
to thirty more cars in a narrow<br />
street puts pressure on infrastructure<br />
and individuals.<br />
Yes, ugliness is subjective,<br />
but in areas of single story,<br />
weatherboard bungalows and<br />
villas with mature trees and<br />
gardens, these tall, bulky,<br />
brutalist, featureless and colourless<br />
developments stick out<br />
CONCERNS: Greater Hornby Residents Association chairman Marc Duff (left) and<br />
member Ross Houliston at an Amyes Rd location where seven two-storey units are<br />
being built.<br />
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN <br />
Mike the proverbial.<br />
Planting with trendy species<br />
will never disguise what<br />
they are. We need design<br />
guidelines, and new rulings on<br />
outside area spaces and trees.<br />
Check out upper Manchester<br />
St or Rugby St, both of which<br />
were once a delightful ramble.<br />
I wonder if Jenny Hughey’s<br />
comments regarding residents’<br />
associations (The Star, Sept<br />
2) could be pertinent to this<br />
huge issue? City council is<br />
clearly not on our side, telling<br />
us its hands are tied by<br />
central government in regard<br />
to space criteria and design<br />
aesthetics and consideration of<br />
neighbours. It acknowledges it<br />
has had many complaints, but<br />
has done nothing to facilitate a<br />
meeting of affected people.<br />
Our MP organised a local<br />
meeting to tell us what we already<br />
knew. No support there.<br />
So can there be a role here for<br />
an active push towards a less<br />
intrusive future, by the combined<br />
residents associations?<br />
I’ve only just applied to<br />
join mine, so I have no<br />
understanding of the protocols<br />
and mechanisms such a<br />
suggestion might require, but I<br />
would be prepared to assist in<br />
any way to help organise such<br />
a happening. I speak also for a<br />
number of others.<br />
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