Selwyn_Times: October 19, 2022

Selwyn Times Wednesday October 19 2022
4
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Neighbours disagree over proposed
• By Susan Sandys
NEIGHBOURING Prebbleton
residents are divided on
whether to chop their land up
as the pressure goes on from the
district council and developers to
intensify the district.
Prebbleton is about to increase
by another 820 sections after
a successful plan change, and
would almost double in size if
two other plan changes are approved.
Several residents live on one
of the latest chunks of rural land
that could go into housing –
some support development while
others are avidly opposed.
The Plan Change 79 rezoning
application, for 527 sections
on 37ha on Birchs Rd, recently
received 36 submissions.
It comes as the Lincoln Voice
residents’ group continues to
fight Plan Change 69 in the Environment
Court. PC69 would
see 1710 sections on 190ha of
rural land.
Neighbours John and Sue
Sheaf and Tom and Helen Fraser
believe PC79 will not be successful
as the National Policy Statement
for Highly Productive Land
came into effect on Monday.
The PC79 area comprises mostly
class 1 and 2 soils, which have
been given enhanced protection
in the new legislation.
Nevetheless, they fear it will
be approved and they will be
surrounded by fences and dense
housing, up to three stories high,
in spite of the PC79 area being
half a kilometre outside the
Prebbleton town boundary.
Sheaf said while rezoning to
residential would dramatically
increase the value of their home,
no money in the world would
make them want to sell to a
developer.
“That’s a matter of principle
that we are prepared to put our
bank balance against,” he said.
Not only did they not want to
move, they did not want to see
the valuable soils “going underneath
houses and asphalt”.
Sheaf said he and Sue had lived
happily at their 0.6ha property
for six years. They had rebuilt the
interior of their home, cleared
weeds, and planted the area with
natives, an orchard and vegetable
gardens, and had hens for free
range eggs.
The Frasers said they had
PARADISE: No amount of money in the
world would make John Sheaf want to
leave his lifestyle section on the outskirts of
Prebbleton. Sheaf opposes Plan Change 97.
lived on their 4ha property since
buying it in 1970 as a bare block.
They had built their home, planted
it out, and to this day farmed
prime lambs there. They enjoyed
living in a rural environment
and believed their grandchildren
would one day take it over and
bring up their children there.
“We are the longest-term residents
within the proposed subdivision.
We find it incomprehensible
that someone can apply to
subdivide our land without our
consent,” Tom Fraser said.
“It’s morally wrong, we don’t
want to shift, but it’s also morally
wrong to take highly productive
land and convert it to concrete.”
The Sheafs and Frasers
were among the majority of
submitters who opposed PC79.
Reasons given by submitters
also included pressure on
infrastructure, increase in
traffic, and oversupply of
homes following the other two
Prebbleton plan changes.
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