Shopping centre to double as expansion plan gets green light
A shopping centre in Christchurch’s northeast will more than double in size after the city council agreed to rezone a block of land next door.
The bulk-retail Homebase shopping centre, on Marshland Rd in Shirley, has about 15 stores including a Bunnings hardware barn, a car park, and a new supermarket about to be built.
Homebase owner Reefville Properties Ltd asked the council in mid-2020 to allow a plan change rezoning the 4.8 hectares next door, on the corner of Marshland Rd and QEII Drive (State Highway 74).
The company is owned by Christchurch brothers Glen and Max Percasky. The pair developed The Palms mall nearby in the 1990s, before selling it and building Homebase.
The Homebase expansion site is larger than the existing shopping centre and is now zoned for residential use. It is mostly vacant except for two houses.
The councillors’ decision agreed with a recommendation from its independent hearings panel, made following public submissions in 2020 and 2021.
It could still be appealed to the Environment Court.
Glen Percasky said they were very pleased with the approval, but it was too soon to say what shops would go on the corner block.
“We’ve got lots of ideas. We’ve put so much time and energy into this plan change, it would’ve been presumptuous to do anything until we knew we’d got it.”
Percasky confirmed large stores would be included, “along the same lines as Homebase”. He did not know when construction would begin.
He declined to say which operator would occupy the previously-approved supermarket, which will cover 4000 square metres and will be accessed by new traffic lights recently installed on Marshland Rd.
In a written submission as part of the rezoning application, Percasky said “the current size of Homebase is not large enough to attract the national and international retail tenants that are necessary for the long term”.
“In my opinion, the current zoning of the site does not appropriately reflect the commercial status of the area as a whole,” the submission said.
The hearings panel said it accepted there was an under-supply of large format retail in the north and east of Christchurch, compared to the south and central areas.
Housing expansion in the area has included the large Prestons subdivision just to the north.
In line with the hearing panel’s recommendation, the council attached conditions to the rezoning approval intended to reduce the effect of the expansion on The Palms.
They say the development must be staged, cannot add more than 20,000sqm of new retail floorspace, and cannot include clothing and footwear stores before 2031.
The Homebase expansion also must include a pedestrian and cycling link to the housing area to the west, and to Marshland Rd.
They bought up the land for expansion progressively, paying $3.6 million for the supermarket site, and $6.8m for the corner block.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Wander more, worry less
Few things in life are as enriching as the thrill of travel or the camaraderie among friends. At Ryman’s Bert Sutcliffe Village in Auckland, a group of intrepid travellers have combined the two.
It all began when Bert Sutcliffe Village resident Marie began arranging evenings at the theatre for her neighbours. The theatre enthusiasts soon became close friends and as their friendships developed so did their adventures, expanding their horizons to include long lunches, winery tours, group dinners and adventurous holidays in New Zealand and overseas.
Click read more for the full story.
We're talking new year resolutions...
Tidying the house before going to bed each night, meditating upon waking or taking the stairs at work.
What’s something quick, or easy, that you started doing that made a major positive change in your life?
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