Upgrading roads around Christchurch stadium no longer 'paused', despite mayor's moves to delay project
From reporter Steven Walton:
Work has resumed on a hotly-debated $33 million upgrade to roads around Christchurch's planned stadium.
Residents now have until the end of the month to share their views on the project.
More than 850 submissions have already been made – making the project the council’s second most popular consultation of the year. The future of the stadium itself was the most popular.
The $33m upgrade has not been supported by new mayor Phil Mauger, who has suggested the money would be better spent fixing roads in the east or going towards the $683m cost of the stadium.
Nearly two weeks ago, the council said work on the project was paused and Mauger said that was a consequence of his wish to not proceed with the work.
On Tuesday, the newly-elected council was briefed behind closed doors about the project.
Council chief executive Dawn Baxendale said the briefing to the council explained the project will improve pedestrian safety and traffic management while also replacing “outdated” three waters networks around the stadium.
Following the briefing, work on the project has resumed.
That means the public consultation can be finished and staff can consider the responses.
A council spokesperson said staff would then make changes to the proposal where it can. After that, it will make a recommendation to a hearings panel that is expected to convene in February next year.
The panel will then make a final recommendation to the council in March, when the council will effectively decide whether the project continues.
The Christchurch City Council launched consultation on the scheme on the first day of Mauger’s mayoralty and released its proposed plans covering Lichfield, Madras, Tuam and Barbadoes streets.
Footpaths would be widened to up to 5.8m on some streets, speeds lowered to 10kph or 30kph, car parks taken away and room allowed for cycle lanes, gardens and outdoor dining.
But businesses along one of the routes were not happy with the plans, as they did not want to lose parking.
The two options for Lichfield St involve the loss of some, or all 72, car parks.
The council’s consultation document said the upgrades were designed to cater for large influxes of traffic and pedestrians attending events at the stadium, Te Kaha.
If approved, the work would start some time next year and be completed by 2026, when Te Kaha is due to open.
Mauger said in October he wanted to delay the work on the surrounding streets until after the stadium was built.
“I would rather, as a ratepayer, drive down the streets as they are and pay that $24m (sic) off the stadium.”
While Mauger said the cost was $24m, the council’s consultation document said it was $33m.
Mauger said the work should be done, but only “when people come and we get more money”.
“You’ve got to cut your cloth to suit the budget.”
⚠️ 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 ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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60.6% Summer
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37.4% Winter
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1.9% Other - I'll share below
Today’s Mind-Bender is the Last of the Year! Can You Guess It Before Everyone Else?
You have me today, Tomorrow you'll have more;
As your time passes, I'm not easy to store;
I don't take up space, But I'm only in one place;
I am what you saw, But not what you see.
What am I?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
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