overturn the restrictions, with the support of a small group of Christchurch City councillors.
According to reports, development in a long stretch of land between the towns of Kaiapoi and Rolleston is heavily curtailed since it is located inside the airport noise contours which were set in 2007. Moreover, a group o0f city councillors, council staff and a delegation of landowners, together with local members of parliament, allege that 50 decibel (dB) Christchurch Airport outer noise contour was the only one in the world. They claim that this modelling was based on an over-ambitious projection of flight numbers which were never met. Therefore, noisy aircraft models since superseded, making house building standards obsolete.
Sharing his views regarding the matter, City councillor Phil Mauger, said thousands of ratepayers have been pushed across the border into the districts of Selwyn and Waimakariri, as Christchurch remains “desperately short of land”. “Fifty and fifty-five decibels is no worse than what you’ve got in Memorial Ave with cars going past,” he noted, adding that the contour land was not farmland or marshland, but solid land that could be divided for housing.
“We need more people paying rates in Christchurch, to reduce the burden on our ratepayers of paying for infrastructure,” Mauger said.
Environment Canterbury (ECan) is currently assessing a November airport submission and a recent consultant’s report on the noise contours, although many believe changes to zoning rules could take several years. Meanwhile, Mauger insists that while new homes would make development contributions for each property, they would also boost the city’s rates take by tens of millions of dollars each year. Therefore, elected representatives and local government staff are largely in agreement that the 50dB restrictions should go, he said. “This is our chance. Here’s the land – let’s bloody do it.”
