Thank you to all who came to the public meeting or messaged us. The hall was packed and we actually had to turn a few people away at the urging of the hall staff. This is the first meeting we have seen in COVID-19 times where people turned up in such numbers.
Waimairi Councillor Sam MacDonald was in attendance. MP Nicola Grigg came in place of Hon Gerry Brownlee because he had to isolate due to COVID-19. Ilam MP Sarah Pallett sent her apologies. Also present in the audience were the Mayor, former Waimairi Councillor and current TOP Leader Raf Manji, and former Councillor Paul Lonsdale. They made some potent comments and suggestions.
Cr MacDonald and MP Grigg engaged with the audience on the Three Waters reform, housing intensification and the removal of minimum car park requirements. The audience was passionate and put some very intelligent questions to them. The overwhelming consensus among the audience was to:
- Have Three Waters scrapped;
- Make Christchurch exempt from the housing intensification legislation; and
- Restore minimum car park requirements.
Based on this consensus, the ACG will be writing to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Leader of the Opposition and Speaker of the House setting out the community’s concerns about the reforms. Cr MacDonald also recommended submitting to the Select Committee on Three Waters when submissions open.
If you have any suggestions on how we can make your voice heard, please email them to us at avonheadcommunity@gmail.com, post on our Facebook page or call us on 03 420 9999. We will need to hear from you by 7 pm on Tuesday, 3 May 2022 so that we can discuss these suggestions at our next Committee meeting.
If you would like to make a donation to the Avonhead Community Group, our bank account number is 38-9014-0816589-00. If you make a donation, please let us know by emailing us at avonheadcommunity@gmail.com so that we have a record for accounting purposes.
The full public meeting recording is available below.
We agree entirely with the outcome of the meeting. We did not attend the meeting due to the risks of Covid.