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Building in Heathcote? Read this... |
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Credit: Jim and Catherine McKie
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[Editor: Jim and Catherine McKie recently wrote to the council in response to the proposed building plans for Bridle Path Road. Their concerns are valid for any building project in Heathcote and they write about them for us here.]
 We are writing to voice several concerns, make some suggestions, and highlight potential opportunities for anybody who has plans for building in Heathcote. Any plans and calls for submissions usually relate largely to section sizes and lot numbers. Whilst these specific decisions are important, the over arching principles of good urban design, and the existing Heathcote village context need to take priority. Quality subdivision and planning decisions for Heathcote as a whole will then follow.
Context and Opportunity
Heathcote is a unique valley within Christchurch. Geographically it is wider than the likes of Avoca or Horotane Valleys. This allows for a village centre rather than a singular valley road. Access to Lyttelton, historically via foot using the Bridle Path and more recently by the road and rail tunnels, as well as the city combine to add a life and dynamic to Heathcote.
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Submissions arriving, more needed |
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Credit: Linda Harrison, Janette Ashton, Hugh Matthews and Ian McLeod
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“This site is too important for compromises - Linda Harrison.” [Editor: In response to the proposed hillside building plans your feedback is on its way. Thanks for doing it Heathcote, it is much appreciated. Don't know what's happening? Take a look here for details. Some of you have kindly agreed to share your feedback with visitors to this site, here are some quotes.]
What Linda Harrison has to say should give any planner pause for thought:
"If the Bridle Path Road horticultural area is subdivided, we will have lost the last of this defining characteristic of Heathcote and the valley will be little more than an anonymous residential suburb."
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Opinion - Maltworks, friend or foe? |
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Credit: Ruth Baker
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 The question most frequently asked by first-time visitors to our home is: “What’s that big concrete thing in the middle of the valley?” Well, for those who don’t know, it’s a silo, a remnant of the once-busy maltworks complex. Nowadays the maltworks is a sad, crumbling hotchpotch of graffiti-festooned, mostly abandoned buildings: semi-dismantled, litter-strewn, weed-infested and decrepit.
Some of the maltworks' buildings feature gaping holes with shattered chunks of concrete suspended across the dark spaces, the product of unannounced and somewhat startling explosions created during a recent police training exercise. It’s a dreadful eyesore and no doubt blights the landscape for nearby residents who would love to be out of the shadow of this looming edifice, no longer confronted by fresh graffiti or disintegrating structures.
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Opinion piece - Save our animals! |
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Credit: Author
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[Editor: Residents will be all too aware of the changes happening in our valley. This piece was submitted by one of readers and may reflect what many of us will be feeling. What do you think?]
I've come from one of those hick towns back up there in the north. Being out here in the valley is very similar, but different if you get my drift. When I go into the big smoke and return and I leave the Ferry Road roundabout, get onto that short motorway, all my senses take a leap for joy. The openness, the fresh air, the comfort and beauty of the hills, and those fields with horses and cows.
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