Western News: September 29, 2022

10
Thursday September 29 2022
‘People are tired of being woken up’
• From page 9
“Then one morning I woke up
. . . pulled the curtains across
and here’s these containers in
front of me,” Jones said.
No notification was given by
the city council. A spokesperson
said the company was “permitted
to establish on the site without
a resource consent subject
to compliance with certain
standards”.
While residents knew it was
an industrial zone, Jones said no
one had any idea it would become
a shipping container yard.
Another Gould Cres resident,
who preferred not to be named,
said containers were stacked five
or six high at 2.9m each. They
said, at 14.5-17.4m, the stacks
were in breach of the 11m height
restriction on the northern end
of the site, closest to the residential
areas.
A city council memo from
August 30, obtained by Western
News, suggested a stack of
containers could be defined as
a building, but that could be
legally challenged.
Peebles confirmed the restriction
on part of the site, however
he said “a container temporary
storage facility is not a building
and there is no height restriction
for storage”.
The city council spokesperson
said they were investigating the
issue.
Noise monitoring performed
by the city council on August 23
NOISY: Numerous residents said the workers on the site are operating outside the 7am-
5pm approved hours and causing sleepless nights.
PHOTO: JOHN COSGROVE
found noise limits to be breached
on two Long St properties, giving
the company working 14
days to comply.
Long St resident Melissa Mc-
Cutchan said they operate at all
hours of the day and night. Noise
complaints frequently come
from herself, her husband and
neighbours.
Johanson said: “It’s just been
really concerning to residents
and frustrating because concerns
are being raised, but the development
is progressing.”
McCutchan said it was “actually
mentally taking a toll now
because I dread going on maternity
leave for the fact that they’re
going to be working all-day and
all night . . . because in the home
it’s a constant drone”.
Any time a container was
dropped onto another, the noise
and vibrations caused her to
question if it was an earthquake.
Jones said: “People are sick and
tired of being woken up with the
banging and carrying on around
five in the morning. There is no
end in sight.”
Peebles confirmed there
had been one incident where a
worker had started half an hour
early, but could not give any
more details.
A resident on Long St himself,
Johanson noted there had been
repeated times where they had
been working well before 7am,
waking up the neighbourhood.
“They don’t have any respect
for the impact that they’re having
and it’s not fair.”
The city council spokesperson
said they would be performing
further testing, and had done so
last week but there was no work
going on.
If the Christchurch District
Plan noise rules were not being
complied with, the city council
would consider an escalated
enforcement approach.
In a positive step, a notice of
motion was passed at the most
recent city council meeting,
which noted concerns and
called for a report and advice
into how the district plan could
be changed by introducing
additional controls and public
notification requirements.
Construction on the part of
the site adjacent to residential
properties was due for completion
in October, Peebles said.
However, the facility was
a container yard and the
containers would come and go
and the space would be used for
logistics and container use in the
long-term.
Johanson received an update
from the city council last week
stating they had asked the owner
to comply under the Outline
Development Plan, with the 30m
setback requirements and to
reduce container stack heights
to 11m. Compliance was asked
by September 30, and if it is not
met, further enforcement action
was likely.
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