Selwyn District Council has recently summarised 46 submissions received for the Plan Change 72 rezoning application. The period for further submissions closed last week.
The submitters made about 190 points, the vast majority opposing PC72. If approved, the application, from Trices Rd Rezoning Group, would enable about 290 residential lots on 28ha south-west of the township, generally located between Trices, Birchs, and Hamptons Rds.
Submitters’ concerns included increased traffic congestion on Birchs, Trices and Springs Rd, loss of rural village qualities, loss of peace and quiet, loss of existing vegetation and pressure on infrastructure.
Submitters included the Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury, the Ministry of Education and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency. The city council and ECan opposed the application. The ministry opposed it in part, referring to concerns from
Prebbleton School on Springs Rd about traffic congestion along the road, as well as the need for an additional primary school. Waka Kotahi neither supported nor opposed the application, but expressed concerns about increased commuter traffic and limited planning for public transport.
Prebbleton Community Association neither supported nor opposed the application, but expressed concerns about increased traffic. It wanted to be consulted on any developments in the township.
“We do not want our community split into two halves by a major traffic corridor, which will happen by the cumulative effect and acceptance of developments such as these,” association members said.
There are two other applications before the district council for the Prebbleton area. They are PC68, for 820 sections, and PC78, for 400 sections. Submissions closed yesterday for PC68, while PC78 is yet to be accepted by the district council for public notification.
If all three Prebbleton plan change applications were approved in their entirety after the submission and hearings process, there would be a total of 1510 new homes. This would be an increase of about 80 per cent on the district council’s estimate of about 1850 dwellings in the township.
