May 2010 Newsletter 

CHAIRPERSON:- Tony Milne JP - Ph 021 59 32 59 - Email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

SECRETARY/TREASURER:- Lyndon Telfer – Email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it  

The Central Riccarton Residents Association (CRRA) holds a monthly committee meeting at 7pm on the second Wednesday of the month. Meetings are held in the Committee Room at the Community Centre Hall on Clarence Street.Meetings are open to the public so you are welcome to attend.   

Hon Jim Anderton visitWigram MP, Hon Jim Anderton, will be our guest speaker on Wednesday 12th May.  The meeting starts at 7pm, and Jim will speak from around 7.30pm. Our Association has raised a number of issues with Jim over the past year in regards to the cancelling of ECan elections, the lengthy delay in getting parking restrictions implemented in Riccarton, and other issues.  Jim will be discussing these and other matters. 

Parking issues

CRRA did a deputation to the Riccarton-Wigram Community Board around 18 months ago to get additional parking restrictions on some streets in Central Riccarton.  Changes at Westfield Mall in charging staff to park at the Mall and the increased density in housing has resulted in serious parking problems in the residential area around the Mall.  The Riccarton-Wigram Community Board agreed to these parking restrictions on 04 May 2010.  While the lengthy delay in reaching this decision is unacceptable, CRRA is pleased that the Board has responded to the community and introduced the restrictions. ECan submissionCRRA was recently dismayed at the cancelling of democratic elections at ECan. 

In addition to expressing our concern to Hon Jim Anderton, we also wrote a submission to the ECan draft annual plan.  It is fundamental in a democracy that people who pay rates/taxes have the opportunity to elect representatives who determine what that rate/tax will be and what it is spent on.  We believe democratic elections should be restored at ECan immediately.   

We supported the Canterbury Water Management Strategy, the cost recovery of water management by charging holders of watertake and discharge consents (mainly farmers)  We supported ECan’s air quality work.  It is important for the health and wellbeing of people and our environment.  We said that subsidies for clean heat are important and should be continued. And we said that those who don't comply should be dealt with with sensitivity and in a constructive manner. 

We also submitted in support of ECan's integrated transport plans, but suggested that we should be preparing for the future and looking at possibility of light rail and/or maintaining clearways/corridors that could later be turned into light rail.  We need to prepare for the future of public transport by creating a city for people not cars and making it easier and safer to bike, walk and take public transport. 

Annual Plan submission

CRRA submitted on the Christchurch City Council Annual Plan.  We opposed additional CCOs (Page 10 Draft Annual Plan) because they remove the need to consult. We do accept the need for CCOs for key infrastructure.  We opposed the removal of the funding for suburban transport centres (Page 14) and said these should go ahead as soon as possible. We opposed to the reduction of the community grant and believe that Community Board should have more (not less) funding to allocate to the community. Decisions should be made at the local level and we suggested that the centralised bureaucracy is currently neither efficient, nor effective. We submitted that rather than big facilities such as QE11 Sports House (page 16), we would like to Council to focus on community and neighbourhood facilities. We also submitted that Central City parking rates come down (page 19). We believe the elasticity of demand will mean that income from parking could go up if charges come down. Many people now shop at malls, and to make the central city attractive parking charges should be reduced. And finally, we submitted our opposition to the $1.7 million that has been reported as being spent on strategies and outside "expert" advice. We believe the people of Christchurch have the knowledge and experience necessary. What better advice than from the citizens and ratepayers of Christchurch? 

Draft Climate Change Strategy submission

We supported the encouragement of green and healthy places and spaces.  This Objective is particularly important to our Association and is linked with the proposed changes to Living 3 and 4 Zones (Proposed Plan Change 53) which our Association wants made mandatory for developers so as to avoid future squalid living conditions. We also submitted support the establishment of community gardens in this area.  The Association is of the firm opinion that the Council include small garden patches for residents in the high density population area that is Central Riccarton. CRRA has also recently submitted on Public Transport, the Living 3 and 4 Zones (Proposed Plan Change 53) and the Christchurch Hospital Redevelopment Plan. 

Become a member of the CRRA committeeWe are always looking for new people to come along to our meetings and, if you want, come on to the CRRA committee.  We make submissions and deputations on a number of local and city-wide issues.  If you have a concern about our local area or are passionate about the future of Christchurch, then please consider coming along to our meetings and volunteering.  Contact information is on the other side of this newsletter. 

Warm regards, 

Tony Milne

Chair, Central Riccarton Residents’ Association