Public ‘misled’ over lake
A stoush has erupted over a rejected proposal for a watersports lake in Christchurch’s red zone as supporters of the popular bid and the agency making the decisions accuse each other of being misleading.
Members of several flatwater sports groups claim Regenerate Christchurch’s chief executive, Ivan Iafeta, told them the reasons given to the public and media for why the lake was no longer being considered for the Avon River red zone were not the real reasons.
They say the comments were made at a Tuesday night meeting with Iafeta to discuss in detail why the lake was axed from a muchdelayed month-long public exhibition of options for the land, which is due to begin on May 26.
The allegations were outlined in a post by the East Lake Trust on its Facebook page.
Iafeta said in a statement he was ‘‘disappointed’’ to see the trust posting ‘‘misleading comments online’’. He did not elaborate.
Regenerate, a Christchurch City
Council-Crown rebuild agency, announced that the rowing lake was out of contention in a press release on April 10. It said the lake was dropped because an inriver option would be subject to algal blooms, while an out-ofriver option would prevent stormwater treatment as it would take space otherwise used for wetlands. It also said it would require too much aquifer water if it was to remain free of algal blooms and would increase flood risk because of the extra water going into the Avon River.
The East Lake Trust, the group leading the proposal, argued these reasons were inaccurate and asked Regenerate to reconsider.
Three sports group representatives at Tuesday’s meeting have alleged Iafeta said the reasons provided in the press release were given as something the public and media could understand and the lake plan was actually dropped because it did not meet the land-use criteria.
Iafeta then allegedly said the lake was not rejected due to technical feasibility, cost issues or because of the public consultation results.
Aoraki Dragon Boat association secretary Ian Macbeth said Iafeta’s ‘‘revelations’’ were ‘‘staggering’’. He said none of the representatives at the meeting were aware of a land-use criteria issue.
‘‘There was dead silence for a couple of seconds while people took that in.’’
Macbeth said he asked Iafeta whether the land-use criteria assessment would be on display at the public exhibition, but ‘‘didn’t get any clear answer’’.
East Lake Trust chairman David Goodman said Iafeta’s comments were ‘‘stunning admissions’’. ‘‘Regenerate is a publiclyfunded entity and they should be completely up-front with why decisions are being made.’’