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.
Addictive Eaters Anonymous
I was spiralling out of control
I don't have many memories from my childhood, but the memories I do have relate to food - picnics with bacon and egg pie, my mother’s home cooking, Sunday bread. I was never much of a sweet tooth, but instead I preferred savouries, pastries, breads and the like. I grew up on a farm and food was plentiful and was never restricted and I lived a pretty healthy, active lifestyle.
Once I hit my teenage years, however, I remember starting to get worried about my weight. (I'll just mention here that I don't think I have ever been overweight and I certainly wasn't overweight as a teenager).
Poll: How should Guy Fawkes be celebrated?
While it is a fun occasion, fireworks on Guy Fawkes Night has caused much conflict over the years, upsetting our pets and disrupting the sleep of neighbours.
How should we celebrate Guy Fawkes Night? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.
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28.9% With a city-wide public fireworks display
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19.5% Small fireworks displays in each community
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7.6% Keep it as is
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33% We shouldn't celebrate it!
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10.6% Anything but fireworks
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0.4% Other - I'll share below
Gang presence this weekend
International members of the Mongols MC are expected in Canterbury for an event marking five years since the gang established itself in New Zealand.
What you need to know:
-The gang has three chapters in the South Island. Wainoni-based Ōtautahi East, Ashburton-based Mid-South and SH1, Burnham.
- Police say they will have ‘considerable resource’ in the region during the event from November 7-10.
- Police in Canterbury have planned a major operation around the event - thought to coincide with a national meeting - from November 7 to 10, and have drafted in staff from two other districts to help.
- Mongols members from across the country are expected to meet at the gang’s original South Island headquarters - a fortified property on SH1, Burnham, on the outskirts of Christchurch.
- Canterbury district commander Superintendent Tony Hill says:
“We’re prepared for multiple contingencies. We will be monitoring their behaviour very closely over the period, if they’re not behaving appropriately then we will be taking appropriate action quite swiftly.”
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