Real estate by koha? Your chance to get a slice of Canterbury's peaks
Hi Canterbury,
What do you think about the opportunity to transfer this hillside to public ownership? Will you be donating?
500-hectares of Lyttelton hillside has been put up for auction and Stuff has teamed up with a charitable trust to get the high-country plot into public ownership.
The Rod Donald Banks Peninsula Trust launched its Te Ahu Pātiki project to purchase the spot between Mt Herbert and Mt Bradley after an offer from a local farmer.
$1.5 million is needed to set up the park and the trust has been crowd funding for the last $600,000 it needs.
With five weeks until the deadline sale, $120,000 still needs to be raised.
Multiple land crossings scattered across the private land have been accessible only through land-owner permission. Ron Donald Trust manager Suky Thompson says that public ownership would guarantee the Te Ara Pātaka tramping network, running from Akaroa to Lyttelton, would always be accessible.
"Those private land crossings are unsecured, which means that they rely on the goodwill of the current landowner. If that landowner was to have a change of attitude, or if the land was to be sold to a new owner who didn't want the public there, they could be closed."
Head over to Stuff's and The Press' Givealittle page and don't forget to type NFP if you don't want your comment used in the Northern Outlook.
Poll: Is the increase in disability parking fines fair?
In October, the fine for parking in a designated mobility car park without a permit has jumped from $150 to $750—a 400% increase!
The goal is to keep these spaces open for those who truly need them. Do you think this big increase in the fine is fair? Share your thoughts below.
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89.1% Yes, it's fair
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10.3% No, it's unreasonable
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0.7% Other - I'll share below
Cyclists forced to use ‘more dangerous’ crossing if cycleway closed
Closing a Christchurch cycleway to avoid an unsafe rail crossing will lead cyclists across an even “more dangerous” crossing, cycling advocates say.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has weighed in on the issue, calling the move to shut a 1.5km section of the Heathcote Expressway for up to two years, “illogical”. He has asked KiwiRail to explain.
KiwiRail is demanding Christchurch City Council close part of the expressway until $6.5 million worth of safety improvements can be made to the Scruttons Rd rail crossing.
It said the “unsafe” crossing posed the risk of death or serious injury once every thousand years.
What do you do think? Read the full story by reporters Sinead Gill and Tina Law here and tell us what you think in the comments. (A subscription is required, but you can see two free articles a month).
House fire causing road closures
Pages Road is closed this afternoon from Breezes Road, this is due to a house that has caught fire in the area.
Coastal Ward Community Board member, Alex Hewison, shared the closure on a local Facebook page.
Fire and Emergency are at the scene but further details have not been shared at this stage.
Avoid the area where possible.