Better streets & spaces, Central city, Council updates, District Plan, Getting around, History & heritage, Housing, Infrastructure upgrades, Land use and growth, Transport options  |  Yesterday

Share this story

At its last meeting of the triennium, Christchurch City Council make a number of decisions including on a heritage plan change, temporary improvements to a street in the Central City and a new footpath upgrade programme.

Heritage plan change approved  

The Council has approved a number of heritage-related changes to the city’s planning rulebook.  

Councillors today approved nearly all of the Hearings Panel’s recommendations on Plan Change 13, including adding nine new Residential Heritage Areas (RHAs) to the District Plan: Chester Street East/Dawson Street, Inner City West, Church Property Trustees North St Albans,

Englefield/Avonville, Wayside Avenue, RNZAF Station Wigram Staff Housing, Shelley Street/Forbes Street, Macmillan Avenue, and Lyttelton RHAs.  

In addition, a number of new buildings, items, and interiors have been added to the District Plan’s Schedule of Significant Historic Heritage.  

The Council rejected only one of the Hearings Panel’s recommendations – for Antonio Hall (265 Riccarton Road), which means all of the hall and its setting will be removed from the schedule.  

A report prepared for today’s Council meeting said the Hearings Panel recommended the plan change be adopted as detailed in Council staff’s right of reply to submissions, except for a small number of amendments.  

The panel also endorsed nearly all of the provisions put forward by staff in relation to heritage items and settings, and minor changes to the heritage policy and rules framework, the report said.  

Plan Change 13 was originally notified for submissions alongside the Council’s Housing and Business Choice Plan Change (Plan Change 14) in 2023.  

In September and December last year, the Council made decisions on some heritage sites and RHAs in the context of Plan Change 14.  

It later decided to withdraw parts of Plan Change 13 to clarify and narrow its scope ahead of a separate hearing on the remaining matters, which was held in June this year.    

The Council’s decisions today have immediate effect under the District Plan, with an appeal period of 30 working days from the date that the Council publicly notifies them, which is expected to happen next week.

New Footpaths Programme

Gaps in Christchurch’s network of footpaths will be connected through a new programme of work. 

At its meeting today, Christchurch City Council approved the first group of projects from the New Footpaths Programme. This has $20.5 million over 10 years to install missing footpaths to link up the existing network. 

The programme was prioritised using factors such as traffic numbers, speed of vehicles, footpath demand, and complexity of delivery. The first group for delivery will include: 

  • Springs Road between Halswell Junction Road and Boston Avenue
  • Parts of Gardiners Road
  • Sawyers Arms Road between 411 Sawyers Arms Road and Waimakariri Road
  • Allendale’s Main Road, close to Church Lane
  • Sunderlands Road from Glendore Drive to Muirhill Street
  • Parts of Cashmere Road and Hendersons Road near the wetlands
  • Awatea Road from Wilmers Road to Barbara Joan Road
  • Hills Road by Walter Park
  • Birmingham Drive

Staff will also start investigating the more complex work to install footpaths on Cashmere Road between Sutherlands Road to Halswell Quarry Park, Main South Road between Woolworths and The Hub, Buckleys Road and Linwood Avenue near Eastgate, and sections of Lower Styx Road.

If you know of an area that has a missing footpath, please get in touch so the Council can investigate.

Welles Street Temporary Improvements 

Parklets, planter boxes, outdoor seating and cycle stands will bring life to a formerly industrial Central City street. 

Today Christchurch City Council approved installing temporary improvements on Welles Street to enhance the environment and support perceptions of the area in response to concerns from the street’s growing number of residents. 

The improvements will be delivered by the Council’s Enliven Places Programme, which delivers small scale placemaking initiatives to create a sense of place and bring together local communities to build neighbourhood identity. 

They will also support the South-East Central Neighbourhood Plan and its aims of creating vibrant green neighbourhoods that encourage people to live centrally. 

The street has historically been home to industrial buildings, however following the earthquakes the buildings were repurposed to create a cluster of restaurants, cafes, bars, wellbeing services and hairdressers. 

In 2018, the Atlas Quarter apartments added 110 homes to the street with another 10 currently under construction.