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Tuesday, May 20, 2014
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Bridge route gets go-ahead BY MYLES HUME MYLES.H@THEGUARDIAN
Opponents to the location of a second Ashburton bridge have been dealt a major blow after the council was given the green light for its proposed route. Independent commissioners John Milligan and Andy Carr yesterday released their highlyanticipated decision following the council’s land designation application for a second bridge over the Ashburton River connecting the end of Chalmers Avenue to a new road east of Tinwald. After
considering more than 330 submissions – the majority of which were opposed – the commissioners came back with a recommendation to approve the designation application, subject to a raft of conditions. The council will now meet at an extraordinary meeting on Thursday to hear from Mr Milligan and decide if they want to adopt the commissioners’ recommendations. Bridge Action Group spokesperson Diane Rawlinson said she was disappointed with the
decision but anticipated a “lively” meeting on Thursday. “It was always a flawed consultation process ... there were other options which would have been less disruptive to the community, in particular to the eastern side of Ashburton,” she said. The group met last night to discuss their approach when they speak at the meeting on Thursday. If the council adopted the recommendations, she said the group may not be able to afford an Environment Court appeal and they would need to consider
if it was worth it. The council’s aim of a second bridge was to improve road safety and connectivity in urban Ashburton, provide security if the current bridge could not be used and ensure State Highway 1 continued to take inter-district and heavy traffic. It is unlikely the bridge would be built for many years. “While there will undoubtedly be adverse impacts on aspects of the environment of people, particularly those in the Chalmers Avenue area, when considered
overall these impacts are not inconsistent with the environment envisaged by the district’s planning documents and can sufficiently be avoided, remedied or mitigated by the conditions proposed,” the report said. Council chief executive Andrew Dalziel said a number of conditions were expected, but he “did not consider them a showstopper”. The report also found the council gave “adequate consideration” to alternative routes for the second bridge.
Hakatere hutholders shocked by eviction Erosion danger has forced the Ashburton District Council to evict several Hakatere hutholders. FULL STORY
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