Call to abolish subdivision Regulation
Brian McPherson has urged the Invercargill City Council to loosen up its district plan to allow for more housing intensification.
McPherson, who established McPherson Realty Ltd in 1973, spoke to councillors yesterday morning during the long-term plan submission process.
He pointed to a development he was involved in in Alice St in 2010 where four apartments were built on a section the size of 605 square metres.
The other property he used as an example was in Lowe St where three apartments were erected on 577 square metres in 2013.
‘‘[Lowe St] met all the requirements; with vehicle manoeuvring, distance between living spaces. Thanks to a very good designer I was able to get three dwellings on that site.’’
‘‘Both those developments, due to the current district plan, are not permissible, and I wonder why?’’ McPherson said.
‘‘The lot size regulation should be abolished.’’
He did not believe the developments that he used as examples were high-density housing but instead he regarded them moderate density.
McPherson, who is now based in Queenstown, said there were a lot of older people living on sections with one old house who wanted to downsize.
But the regulations were hindering those people from knocking over that old house and potentially building multiple dwellings on that section.
‘‘There are a number of sections in Invercargill between 600 and 700 square metres that now can’t be subdivided.’’
He said there was high rental demand for the intensified type of housing McPherson was suggesting and Invercargill had a shortage of it.
Councillor Ian Pottinger asked McPherson if he felt it would make sense to have zoning where the intensive housing could be incorporated for places like South City and Windsor which were close to shopping areas or hubs.
‘‘Personally I think I’d like to see it available and not restrict property owners anywhere in the city.’’
He pointed out that Windsor already had a lot of in-filled houses which was done in the 2000s, but they can’t be built now.
McPherson said he had no personal grudge and said he wouldn’t be buying the sections if the council did change the regulations, it was simply a concern he had for the future of the city.
He wanted a long-term plan to enable more new building to occur in a lot of areas where land has gone to waste.
There should be an approach to intensify rather than an approach to spread the city further, he said.
‘‘To me, anything over 600 square metres should be able to be subdivided.’’
‘We need to make a stand’
The New River Estuary Forum wants the Invercargill City Council to take action and include clean-up work of the degraded estuary in its 2021-2031 long-term plan.
The New River Estuary Forum was set up in 2018 by members of concerned groups who wanted to look at what could be done with the New River Estuary.
Richard Kyle represented the group at the long-term hearing and outlined one of the major concerns, which was the was leaching from the old rubbish dump into the estuary.
‘‘The rubbish dump was sealed in 2004, but it actually wasn’t sealed, it was a heavy rubble seal around it and the dump continues to leach into the estuary,’’ he said.
He said it was a historical issue with the dump but added if ‘‘we keep kicking the can down the road’’ it will never be addressed.
The New River Estuary Forum felt it was time to include the required work in the 2021-2031 long-term plan to help get it sorted.
‘‘It’s an area which should really be beautified and not left to be leaching. We need to make a stand.’’
Councillor Marcus Lush asked if it was possible to remove all the old dump.
Kyle said the reality was there was 30 or 40 years of refuse, so he thought it would be a challenge, but agreed it was one of the areas that needed to at least be investigated.
Swimming pool about the kids
Members of the Bluff community told the Invercargill City Council yesterday that it wants and needs its swimming pool to remain open for its children.
The council funds the Bluff Swimming Pool Trust with $180,000 per year to cover its operational costs.
That contract ends in June next year. The trust also needs to raise funds to help with required maintenance work.
Bluff School principal Geoff Folster spoke about the importance of the pool to the Bluff children. He said the pool was crucial in getting the kids active.
Through the help of volunteers, the school was able to provide swimming lessons for all the children, Folster said.
They were able to walk from the school to the pool. If Bluff did not have a pool, and they had to travel to Invercargill, there would be increased costs for buses and the travel time would cut into the children’s education.
Bluff Swimming Club president Jaime Lemalie said the club was strong in terms of numbers and swimming was an important activity for the community.
She added the club has had some swimmers reach national level, but most important was how many kids had learned to swim which was an essential life skill, in particular for a coastal town.
‘‘Currently our biggest agegroup is five and six-year-olds, these kids are not only learning to swim but to be safe around the water,’’ Lemalie said.
Bluff Community Swimming Pool Trust chairperson Ian Sutherland thanked the council for the past nine years of funding to allow the pool to keep operating.
He asked that the council continue that support with the children of Bluff being the most important reason.
‘‘Everyone in
Bluff lives,
works, and plays around the water. Being able to swim is critical.’’
Delay the grandstand build
Two Surrey Park user groups have asked the Invercargill City Council to put a halt to its plans to demolish and rebuild the grandstand at the Surrey Park athletics track.
As part of the council’s draft 2021-2031 long-term plan it has proposed to spend $1.5 million on rebuilding the earthquake-prone grandstand.
The current 850 seat grandstand is deemed earthquakeprone and a planning consultant has recommended the council replace it with a smaller capacity grandstand.
Work on the 57-year-old grandstand would likely start following the South Island Colgate Games which will be held in Invercargill in January.
Athletics Southland chairman Chris Knight asked council to delay the work to allow time to work through other potential
options, including incorporating a clubroom area for various user groups.
‘‘If we know the decision is going to be delayed [the users] can then get together and work out what we want, while working with the council.’’
The Waihopai Football Club’s clubrooms is currently situated underneath the grandstand which is earmarked for demolition.
Its previous clubrooms were knocked over to make way for the
SIT Velodrome at Surrey Park.
Club president Gordon Crombie also told councillors yesterday that his club wanted a delay to work through the best possible options.
‘‘We request that the ICC delay the decision for the future plans for the grandstand until such time as further information is able to be supplied to the users of the facility and the council.
‘‘This is due to the lack of details in the Surrey Park redevelopment business case.’’