Residents in Christchurch suburb plead with council to 'be on the right side of history'

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

A slice of ratepayer-owned land in a rapidly growing Christchurch suburb will be sold off for social and affordable housing, despite community pleas for the council to keep it.

Christchurch City Council bought land on Quaifes Rd in Halswell to build a stormwater treatment facility. At the time, the council was forced to buy more land than it needed because the owner did not want to sell only a portion of the property.

The council always planned to sell the surplus land (3.67 hectares) to help recoup costs, but the Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton community board wants a third retained for a park or community facility that could be needed in the future.

The council sided with staff, who said the land was not needed for a park or community facility because Halswell’s future was already well catered for within its growth plans.

Council head of facilities, property and planning Bruce Rendall​ said there were already 77 parks within a 2-kilometre radius of the site and more sports parks were planned for Templeton.