Dad ordered a new sled! Yay! (as usual my subject line is completely irrelevant to the content)
Karori zone battle
Angry Twosome - Chris Bryant and Michelle Bala are trying to stop Wellington City Council from rezoning a prime Karori residential site so it can be used for commercial enterprise.
DISGRUNTLED KARORI residents are fighting to stop Wellington City Council rezoning and selling a slice of residential land for commercial purposes.
The block of council-owned land is on the corner of Campbell Street and Karori Road - opposite the Karori Shopping Centre - and includes St. John's church, a house used by the Lighthouse community group, a large hall, and a smaller building used as an op shop.
Campbell Street resident Chris Bryant and his partner Michelle Bala are spearheading the community's fight to stop the rezoning. A meeting on April 10 saw more than a dozen neighbours turn up to meet city councillors Andy Foster, John Morrison and Jack Ruben.
Mr Bryant opposes the rezoning, which could see the land used for a shopping centre, because he believes it will have a negative impact on central Karori and the local community.
"Here we have an area with a lot of potential as a public space that brings balance to the commercial and retail area it overlooks. It also provides a buffer zone between residential streets and the commercial centre of Karori, and the council wants to open it up to heavier commercial development," Mr Bryant says.
He says the rezoning would add value to the council-owned property, which would then be sold to a private developer to help finance the recent Karori town centre project that includes the new library and café.
However, Onslow-Western Ward councillor and development portfolio leader Andy Foster says that when the Karori town centre upgrade was planned, it was agreed to sell surplus land in Karori town centre.
"The preferred proposal was to put the library on that [Campbell Street] corner. Had we done that we would have probably sold the site where the existing library is for retail purposes," he says.
The council's Strategy and Planning Committee will publicy notify the rezoning, which requires changes to the District Plan, by the end of May. Public submissions will then be called for before the council votes on the issue.
But the council's desire to rezone and sell the land leaves Mr Bryant concerned about due process.
"How can we expect that anything we submitw ill have any effect on this pre-determined outcome? Where is the benefit in consulting the community when the decision has already been made?"
Mr Bryant is also concerned that residential house prices in the area will drop if the site is used for commercial purposes.
Mr Foster is not sure how the rezoned land will affect local house prices but says a bigger picture needs to be looked at.
- Dave Burgess, The Wellingtonian, Thursday April 20 2006
What the heck are they protesting comercialization for? Can't they see it will be a good thing for Karori? I mean, let's say they do open up shops there.
-> More jobs in the area: Puts money into the national and local economy, local people can have jobs in Karori (thus there would theoretically be less traffic cos there'd be less people going into town)
-> Depending on the type of store, it would be nice to not have to leave Karori for stuff like decent non-second-hand-or-designer clothes
-> Karori would be less of a hole :)
-> House prices would rise, Mr. Bryant, thanks, cos real estate types would be all ":O so close to the shops!"
And over a dozen neighbors, w00t-de-do, get together three Fili families and you've got a dozen people, geeze.
I had more to say but I seem to have lost it. Damnit.
Yesterday at the library I surprised myself by getting out, as well as Carly Binding and Unleashed 2005 (that CD The Rock put together), The OC: Mix 1. I'm fully addicted to that California song! Californiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... And now I want to write a song like that about Wellington but I'm not coming up with much. I think the reason why California's got so many songs about it is cos it's such a romanticized state. Also California has more songs than Wellington because it's a beautiful word to say in comparison - cah-li-forn-yuh, cal-i-for-nee-yuh, whatever, wel-ing-ton doesn't hold a candle to it, or it tried but the Wellington wind blew out the flame.
I've got an(other) application to New World (again). Hm. I was too scared to ask if they were hiring at Arobake Café. Also I was missing the bus.
Angry Twosome - Chris Bryant and Michelle Bala are trying to stop Wellington City Council from rezoning a prime Karori residential site so it can be used for commercial enterprise.
DISGRUNTLED KARORI residents are fighting to stop Wellington City Council rezoning and selling a slice of residential land for commercial purposes.
The block of council-owned land is on the corner of Campbell Street and Karori Road - opposite the Karori Shopping Centre - and includes St. John's church, a house used by the Lighthouse community group, a large hall, and a smaller building used as an op shop.
Campbell Street resident Chris Bryant and his partner Michelle Bala are spearheading the community's fight to stop the rezoning. A meeting on April 10 saw more than a dozen neighbours turn up to meet city councillors Andy Foster, John Morrison and Jack Ruben.
Mr Bryant opposes the rezoning, which could see the land used for a shopping centre, because he believes it will have a negative impact on central Karori and the local community.
"Here we have an area with a lot of potential as a public space that brings balance to the commercial and retail area it overlooks. It also provides a buffer zone between residential streets and the commercial centre of Karori, and the council wants to open it up to heavier commercial development," Mr Bryant says.
He says the rezoning would add value to the council-owned property, which would then be sold to a private developer to help finance the recent Karori town centre project that includes the new library and café.
However, Onslow-Western Ward councillor and development portfolio leader Andy Foster says that when the Karori town centre upgrade was planned, it was agreed to sell surplus land in Karori town centre.
"The preferred proposal was to put the library on that [Campbell Street] corner. Had we done that we would have probably sold the site where the existing library is for retail purposes," he says.
The council's Strategy and Planning Committee will publicy notify the rezoning, which requires changes to the District Plan, by the end of May. Public submissions will then be called for before the council votes on the issue.
But the council's desire to rezone and sell the land leaves Mr Bryant concerned about due process.
"How can we expect that anything we submitw ill have any effect on this pre-determined outcome? Where is the benefit in consulting the community when the decision has already been made?"
Mr Bryant is also concerned that residential house prices in the area will drop if the site is used for commercial purposes.
Mr Foster is not sure how the rezoned land will affect local house prices but says a bigger picture needs to be looked at.
- Dave Burgess, The Wellingtonian, Thursday April 20 2006
What the heck are they protesting comercialization for? Can't they see it will be a good thing for Karori? I mean, let's say they do open up shops there.
-> More jobs in the area: Puts money into the national and local economy, local people can have jobs in Karori (thus there would theoretically be less traffic cos there'd be less people going into town)
-> Depending on the type of store, it would be nice to not have to leave Karori for stuff like decent non-second-hand-or-designer clothes
-> Karori would be less of a hole :)
-> House prices would rise, Mr. Bryant, thanks, cos real estate types would be all ":O so close to the shops!"
And over a dozen neighbors, w00t-de-do, get together three Fili families and you've got a dozen people, geeze.
I had more to say but I seem to have lost it. Damnit.
Yesterday at the library I surprised myself by getting out, as well as Carly Binding and Unleashed 2005 (that CD The Rock put together), The OC: Mix 1. I'm fully addicted to that California song! Californiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... And now I want to write a song like that about Wellington but I'm not coming up with much. I think the reason why California's got so many songs about it is cos it's such a romanticized state. Also California has more songs than Wellington because it's a beautiful word to say in comparison - cah-li-forn-yuh, cal-i-for-nee-yuh, whatever, wel-ing-ton doesn't hold a candle to it, or it tried but the Wellington wind blew out the flame.
I've got an(other) application to New World (again). Hm. I was too scared to ask if they were hiring at Arobake Café. Also I was missing the bus.