The Avon Ōtākaro river Network (AvON) conducted a council candidate survey, late August 2016. The Community Voice answers to the AvON questions posed are:
1. Do you support a multipurpose city-to-sea River Park?
Yes, it will become a spectacular, diverse and sustainable asset for all of Waitaha Canterbury and Aotearoa New Zealand.
2. Do you support the maximum possible restoration of native ecosystems within the Ōtākaro Red Zone?
Yes, this will help naturalise flora and fauna on a much larger scale. The opportunity should not be lost to recover native habitat, bearing in mind that the right mix of exotic leavening can add value too. Plant what was there originally and will be able to survive, purpose-fit for a hazard-reduced urban environment.
3. Should the basis for deciding future use be purely financial return to the Crown, or should significant consideration also be given to the economic value of cultural, social and environmental benefits?
The latter. Ask the people who live here, being invested here. What makes them want to keep contributing, enthusiastically? Well-being is hard to quantify and has many interacting parts. Attracting recovery migration can only be based upon that recovery being real – a felt thing by those who have hung on and seen their surroundings flourish to justify the effort. The voluntary goodwill and effort of communities far outweighs that which the Crown can own. Share the opportunities for improvement and the benefits widely.
4. Do you support the redevelopment of red zone land for residential use?
We don’t believe that anyone can. It is zoned red because the foundation and insurance costs on any building there would simply prohibit projects. That goes for infrastructure too, which lends support to the River Park proposal as the right kind of ‘soft infrastructure’ element range for this place. So definitely no.
Community Voice thanks and commends The Avon Ōtākaro Network for its advocacy efforts.
Kia ora, kia kaha
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