Tag: Consultation

Why the low public response to Water Strategy consultation?

Opinion: Consultation closed yesterday on the Christchurch City Council’s draft Integrated Water Strategy. This Strategy is described as setting a framework to help the Council manage water supply, wastewater, & stormwater, and also water infrastructure, waterways, and coastal waters. It’s a Strategy that relates to $10 billion in Council spending and a 100-year view.

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Coverage of the Water Strategy in the Tuesday Club newsletter

Sounds important, right? Especially when water is something that impacts every member of the community, and people will march in the street over issues like water bottling? I attended two of the Council’s drop-in information sessions on the draft Strategy (and viewed the sign-in sheet for the others), and am sad to say there was a near-zero attendance by members of the public. Most sessions have had one or two people sign in. Why are so few people turning out? Continue reading “Why the low public response to Water Strategy consultation?”

Submission on Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection

I recently submitted feedback to Council on the proposed options for addressing and improving the safety of the Harewood/Gardiners/Breens Road intersection.

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In the interests of transparency in light of my Papanui Ward candidacy in the 2019 local government elections, my submission follows: Continue reading “Submission on Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection”

Adding up the benefits of the Christchurch Northern Corridor

Analysis: It’s fair to say that the Christchurch Northern Corridor (CNC) is a contentious project. There are significant costs involved (both financial – more on that in a future article – and in terms of community impact, especially on those living downstream). Given these costs, surely there must be significant benefits on the other side of the ledger?

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CNC benefits from the project website

In a previous career in the technology sector, I’ve been involved in big-ticket product development decisions. These might have been an order of magnitude smaller than a Road of National Significance, but they still required a comprehensive business case. Continue reading “Adding up the benefits of the Christchurch Northern Corridor”

What will Harewood traffic lights campaign deliver?

Opinion: Years of campaigning for traffic lights at the Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection might be about to pay off for Harewood Councillor Aaron Keown. The Christchurch City Council is currently consulting on options to improve safety at the intersection. Will a focus on this one intersection however deliver the best result for residents?Harewood-Gardiners-Breens 1

I was interested to read former Mayor Garry Moore’s recent editorial on the Council’s Annual Planning process. Garry sees many projects and issues pitched to Council during the budgeting exercise, but bemoans a lack of big-picture thinking about Council’s overall priorities and trade-offs to balance the budget and constrain rates rises. Likewise, I’m concerned that a single-minded focus on the Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection in isolation might not serve the community well.

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Consultation documents on display at the Papanui Library

Continue reading “What will Harewood traffic lights campaign deliver?”

Submission on Christchurch Northern Corridor traffic mitigation

At the start of this week I submitted feedback to Council on the draft Christchurch Northern Corridor (CNC) Downstream Effects Mitigation Plan. The draft plan is no longer open for feedback – I left my response to pretty much the last minute as I’d been waiting on information from the NZ Transport Agency regarding the benefits of the project.

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In the interests of transparency in light of my Papanui Ward candidacy in the 2019 local government elections, my submission follows: Continue reading “Submission on Christchurch Northern Corridor traffic mitigation”