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THURSDAY MARcH 21 2013
• Autumn harvest keeps community gardeners busy • Tryathalon attracts 2000 children
students share culture p3
Variety bash p7
sure to rise p14-15
Vision…
but will it become reality? riverside vision: Avon Otakaro Network co-chair Evan Smith, Stormwater to Wetlands project advocate Ann Kennedy, River of Life Project coordinator Mark Gibson and the Avon River Users Group’s Bruce Johnston all have ideas for the future of the Avon River red zone. Photo: Samantha Early
Samantha Early and Jessica Schaap samantha@mainlandpress.co.nz | jessica.s@mainlandpress.co.nz
cafes, a comprehensive cycle network, community gardens, urban forests, and sanctuaries for engendered wildlife. AvON member Ann Kennedy presented an idea for transforming parts of the area into wetlands, for storm-water to go through before it entered the river, which would filter out sediment and contaminants. “It’s just a question of cutting off the pipe,” she said. Bruce Johnston of the Avon River Users Group is promoting a flat-water sports facility adjoining the river, 2.2 kilometres long to enable it to host international rowing as the river had currently reached its capacity for such sports and it was posing safety issues. The diversity of the ideas was a strength, Mr Smith said. “There’s very little conflict between the different projects because they all dovetail so nicely together.” A spokesman for Minister Brownlee said Cera was interested in what the community had to say, but there was still work to be done on the best options for the future use of the land and
WHAT does the future hold for the red zoned land along the Avon River? The deadline is looming for most red-zoned residents to accept the Crown’s offer on their properties by March 31. On Saturday, 26 groups presented their ideas for the land at the Avon River residential red zone projects forum. Last May a petition from more than 18,000 people calling for the land to become a park was presented to Parliament. But the one who will decide its future, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee, remains non-committal. Avon Otakaro Network (AvON) co-chair Evan Smith said the ideas presented at Saturday’s forum would reinvent the red zone from a residential area to a river park and ecological reserve – most were permanent projects, not temporary measures. But they couldn’t do much without the go-ahead from the Government. The ideas include a riverside heritage garden park, boatshed
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they were not going to put a deadline on that. “The Crown will recover some costs from insurers following the purchase of the residential red zone properties, but decisions on the future use for this land and whether the Crown will gain from these are yet to be made,” the spokesman said. Mr Smith said they understood the Government had good reasons not to make long-term decisions right now, and while some in the community were ready to move on and use the land in new ways, others were still working out where their futures lay. He said for most of the projects to come to fruition, the land would need to be gifted to the people of Christchurch. “It’s not much use for much else. That’s the feeling of most of the communities.” However, Mr Smith said that would not necessarily come ata cost to the Government as returns could still be made from the land.
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