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Submitters say no to bridge plans
INSIDE Property GUARDIAN
Property
Guardian ASHBURTON
JANUARY 24 2014
TOP OF THE CLASS Proudly marketed by Hamish Niles Property Brokers
BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
When 95 per cent of submitters say no, the Ashburton District Council has to sit up and listen says Bridge Action group spokesperson Diane Rawlinson. The council called for submissions on its land acquisition plans for a second bridge across the Ashburton River. The response, which saw 336 submissions received, with just 17 of those in support of the chosen route, was overwhelming, Ms Rawlinson said. “This demonstrates very clearly the depth of the community’s feeling; we’re very pleased
with this result.” The second bridge route will take traffic along Chalmers Avenue and across the river to a new road in Tinwald’s east on rural land. The council lodged an application to designate land along the route to protect it from further private development, although the bridge is unlikely to be built for at least 10 years. While it was heartening to have such a strong response, Ms Rawlinson said the acid test would come when submitters make their case before independent commissioners barrister John Milligan and traffic engineer Andrew Carr.
“I realise the number of submissions won’t make the difference, it’s how the submitters discuss and present their arguments to the commissioners. Quality data will be important. Submitters will have to be able to justify what they put in their submissions,” she said. Of the 336 submissions, 101 submitters want to appear before the commissioners. The hearings will run from March 10 possibly until March 12, with a planners’ report summarising the submissions, available on February 24. The Bridge Action Group was formed to fight the council’s first
route choice on Grove Street and worked with a barrister to file a comprehensive submission, Ms Rawlinson said. “We’ve done ours in bullet points but we’ll be expanding on that at the hearings and we could have several speakers as well as our barrister,” she said. In addition to being part of the action group submission, many group members filed their own submissions. “The numbers have spoken very loudly. “This is our last big drive, but win or lose at this point it still has to happen; there’s a long way to go yet.”
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