It is out of control in some areas, some people say.

"I've been here 27 years and the last two years have been shocking - we've got homelessness, we've got people harassing people for money, it's just unbelievable," a suburban gift shop owner says.

These beggars can be "pretty scary for elderly people and they go up to people in their cars and everything, it's just not on."

Beggars even come into her shop and approach customers. Stronger enforcement is long overdue.

"There's no authority, that's the trouble. These people are not answerable to the likes of us when we tell them to move on."

Begging a human right?

Christchurch City Council considered anti-begging bylaws some years ago but gave up plans in 2015. It would be too hard to enforce, it decided.

However, the rise in aggressive begging has seen the Council again considering the options.

The Council notes that in 2017 three beggars in Napier were charged with breaching the bylaw on begging.

Pleading not guilty, they said the Council breached the Bill of Rights Act. Police dropped the charges.

The Council will also be noting how effective Auckland and Wellington city council bylaws will be in prohibiting anti-social behaviour associated with aggressive begging.

Christchurch Central ward councillor Jake McLellan is leading the research into begging.

He says he understands police want a bylaw to make it easier to deal with aggressive begging.

Council staff will consider if one is needed and present their findings to Council, McLellan says.

He says the bylaw isn't about punishing people who safely solicit support from members of the public.

"What we're concerned about is people being threatened and intimidated, being stood over at ATMs.

"That's the type of behaviour that really borders on the legal limits of what you are and aren't allowed to do.

"So we're happy to look at tools that give the police additional powers to look into that" he says.

"I'll support a bylaw if the evidence backs it up. I want to be really clear about that."

McLellan says he's "almost certain" more resourcing for the City Mission and similar agencies is needed.

Aggressive begging isn't everyone's way

People begging say they need help.

Christchurch's City Missioner says genuinely homeless people aren't usually aggressive.

The Mission has two outreach workers who go onto the streets each morning to support homeless people.

Any bylaw about aggressive begging must not stop the Mission from helping those people who are genuinely sleeping rough, she says.

Housing First Otautahi says a bylaw won't work.

It says punitive measures won't address the deeper issues.

"The Council seems to think ‘we want to get these people off the streets, they're a nuisance ..." Housing First says.

"What do they call aggressive? Are the the aggressive people really unwell? Who's going to make that decision?"

Source

• RNZ
• The Press

Christchurch's latest emissions report estimated cruise ships produced the equivalent of 2 percent of the city's total gross emissions in the 2023 financial year.

Although they were calculated in the report, they were not included in the total gross emission or net emissions.

Climate Liberation Aotearoa spokesperson Michael Apathy addressed councillors at a meeting on Wednesday, calling for that to change. Read more

The diocese made one of 267 public submissions on the sale and, of these, 219 oppose the Christchurch City Council (CCC) proposal to sell the site to the Hong Kong-based car parking management company.

As well as a new Cathedral, and an administration centre, the diocese, which owns a neighbouring block, plans to build a 600-space car park building on its land.

Through its legal firm Chapman Tripp, the diocese claims the consultation process for the sale was flawed because the size and scale of the proposed car park were not made public.

"The consultation is therefore not genuine and is likely to be the subject of a challenge if the sale proceeds,'' the letter states.

Last November, Chapman Tripp made a request to the Council under freedom of information laws for "all materials held by CCC in relation to the intended future use of the site."

When the Council didn't release any drawings or plans of the proposed car park, Chapman Tripp complained to the Ombudsman.

"Our client's view is that the Council is delaying providing us with the information requested to frustrate the consultation process,'' the letter stated.

"The response from Council smacks of sophistry and it is our client's view that the consultation is not genuine."

The Council staff response to the Chapman Tripp letter was attached to the report for councillors.

It said, "these drawings and plans [for the proposed car park] either do not exist or are not held by the Council and the Council expects that these will be developed over time by the preferred respondent through the design and resource consent process."

But councillors have been told that the new Court Theatre's existence will be threatened without a car park building next door.

Others opposed to the sale raised different issues.

"Don't expand their empire. Look at ethical and community-based options for parking and/or use of this land," said one.

"At [the] very least, if you really want yet another car park, ... at least make it a council-owned and run car park and not just another Wilson park that serves only the wealthiest of our society, with little care of the future.''

Not everyone thinks it's a terrible idea, however.

One said the health and sustainability of the whole [arts and cultural] area was dependent on the car park building.

"This process should not be about a popularity contest for Wilson," said another.

Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel said CCC had previously decided to build a car park building on the site and the consultation process was only about the sale of the land.

A decision about the sale will be made this week.

Source

• Stuff
• Stuff
• Image: Wilson Parking

When Christchurch City Council agreed to transfer $50 million worth of social housing to the Otautahi Community Housing Trust, it had to under the Public Works Act give the original owners or their descendants the first opportunity to buy their property back at the current market value. Read more

Despite warnings from staff, the strategy and finance committee had recommended council waive the fee. 

Mayor Lianne Dalziel, who backed the application at the committee stages,  said she had changed her mind on the matter.

At a council meeting on Thursday, Tim Scandrett and left-leaning People's Choice Crs Andrew Turner, Pauline Cotter, Jimmy Chen, Glenn Livingstone, Yani Johanson and Phil Clearwater voted to waive the fee.

Dalziel, Ali Jones, Vicki Buck, Jamie Gough, Raf Manji, Paul Lonsdale and David East voted against granting the remission.

The split vote meant the status quo - that the church be required to pay the development contribution - was maintained.

City councillors were torn about whether to approve the church's application, but council staff said granting a remission would set a dangerous precedent.

St Paul's School on Gayhurst Rd, Dallington, was red-zoned after the earthquakes and subsequently sold to the Crown.

The  diocese decided to merge the school with Our Lady of Fatima in Edgeware, creating a new primary school , St Francis of Assisi, on the Innes Rd site.

Two new classroom blocks were built and the church was invoiced for $150,617 under the council's development contributions policy to cover the cost of additional demand on infrastructure.

The school did not want to pay the bill and asked for a remission, saying its post-earthquake circumstances were unique.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• Image: facebook.com

Council staff had recommended the church's remission application be declined.

St Paul's School on Gayhurst Rd in Dallington was red-zoned after the earthquakes and subsequently sold to the Crown.

The diocese decided to merge the school with Our Lady of Fatima in Edgeware, creating a new primary school on the Innes Rd site.

Two new classroom blocks were built and the church was charged a $150,617 fee, under the Christchurch City Council's development contributions policy, to cover the cost of additional demand on the infrastructure network.

The policy states that district health boards and charter or state-integrated schools could not be defined as the Crown.

But the Bishop's solicitor asked the council to make a discretionary exception.

The policy allows the council to make exceptions for "unique and compelling circumstances".

A report from council staff said many groups and businesses had been displaced by the earthquakes.

"There have been no development contribution remissions granted to any other person or business developing a site as a result of relocating from the red zone," the report said.

The report stated that although no other schools in Christchurch could "claim a precedent" if a remission was granted, other red-zoned property owners could take the same approach and make a remission application in relation to their new sites.

The circumstances outlined by the Bishop's office failed to provide compelling enough reasons for the fee to be waived, it said.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: chch.catholic.org.nz

Council waives fee $150,617 for school rebuild]]> 82916