Local Fights Council and Auckland Planner, As Records Show About 1.31% Of City Resource Consents Notified

The NZR tells Wayne Hawker's story of his uphill battle with the Christchurch City Council to stop townhouses going in next to him and and his wife in Phillipstown. Includes video and audio.

Phillipstown local Wayne Hawker has been fighting the Christchurch City Council to stop a double-storey townhouse development going into a neighbouring property. He believed they would block out 75 to 80 percent of the sunshine and reduce his home’s warmth.

Despite meeting with a city planner, corresponding with city officials, the mayor and Auckland-based planner, the reduction in sunlight was deemed less than minor and the resource consent went through as non-notified. This left Hawker with no recourse to oppose the development.

Hawker isn’t alone.

Over the past 5 years, only 197 applications for resource consent have been notified out of more about 15,000. That means just over 1 percent of applications are notified each year.

When The NZR talked with Hawker outside his England St property, he said that 33 England Street had been empty for several years. A passerby, going on a morning walk with his wife, believed the house had had its hot water cylinder stripped.

Listen to Hawker -

Documents provided to The NZR showed that in April, Intrados (AE Architects Ltd) had applied to the Christchurch City Council for a resource consent to build four, two-storey dwellings. It estimated the surface size to be 400 square meters. It had made the application on behalf of developer Moreover Holdings Limited.

In the application, Moreover states “Overall, it is considered that any adverse effects of the proposal will be less than minor.”

“The two storey townhouse is anticipated for the area. The building uses a variety of materials, and the new bulk is very well spread over the site.”

33 England Street/ Source: Intrados for Moreover Holdings Ltd

“There are no known heritage buildings, we are trying to keep to the minor site contours.”

“Each unit has decent outdoor living space, each getting good afternoon and evening sun”.

Hawker viewed the plans and concluded the impact on his home would be more than minor. In his view, their home would lose both sunshine and warmth and the townhouses would “have a visual impact and effect”.

On 27 May, Hawker wrote to Phil Mauger, the mayor of Christchurch, taking issue with the proposed site density.

“Hi Phil,