Community engagement in the Papanui Ward in Christchurch, New Zealand
Clean Up Week is New Zealand’s largest clean up event, and on Saturday 20 September Keep Christchurch Beautiful is hosting a Papanui Clean Up. Meet at 9am on Chapel Street outside Mitre 10. Bring a friend and some gloves, and help get litter out of our neighbourhood. See the Facebook event for more info.
The annual plant and seed swap is underway at Papanui Library. Bring along your seedlings or seeds, and swap for something fresh for your garden. Sunday 14 to Wednesday 17 September at the Papanui Library (and also 16-20 September at Redwood Library). Happy spring gardening!
The current Long Term Plan (10-year budget) has $3.39m allocated to a project for Condell Avenue Street Renewals, with the bulk of the spending budgeted for financial year 2027-28. Think Papanui understand this relates to the section between Aorangi Road and Blighs Road.
In information released this week, the Council has advised that there is a potential budget shortfall with this project, and that “potential funding opportunities and cost optimization measures” may be likely. The Council goes on to state that they “remain committed to advancing the project efficiently and will keep all stakeholders informed of any significant developments”, and “anticipate proceeding to construction in FY26 following a successful community engagement process.” FY26 is the financial year running from July 2025 to June 2026.
Information source: see the link “Project 68389 – Condell Ave Street Renewals” on this page:
https://ccc.govt.nz/the-council/how-the-council-works/council-elections/information-for-candidates
Voting is now underway in the 2025 local elections, and all enrolled voters should expect voting papers to arrive in their letter box by 22 September.
You can post your completed voting paper into any NZ Post or DX Mail postbox (by 5pm Tuesday 7 October 2025 to guarantee delivery before the close of voting), or drop your completed voting paper into any of the orange vote bins at locations citywide.
In Papanui Ward there are orange vote bins at: Papanui Library; Redwood Library; Woolworths Northlands; and the Graham Condon Recreation and Sport Centre.
For information on Christchurch City Council candidates, voting, and all other aspects of the local election. see this page:
https://ccc.govt.nz/the-council/how-the-council-works/council-elections
For information on Environment Canterbury (ECan) candidates, constituencies, and more, see:
https://www.ecan.govt.nz/about/your-council/local-elections
On Wednesday 10 September 2025, local resident Jason Hitchens will present a petition to the Christchurch City Council regarding the Grassmere Street Development. The petition states:
“The following people/residents are ‘OPPPOSED’ of the use of Grassmere Street as the access point for the new development. We would prefer all development traffic to use an access route off Cranford Street, though the council land.”
Mr Hitchens started the petition after learning how Grassmere Street is set to be impacted by development projects associated with housing in the Cranford Basin.
Information provided by the Council to residents on a combination of Council- and Developer-led projects includes the expectation of significant truck movements over a six-month period. “Truck movements will occur approximately every second week – averaging four trucks per hour during active weeks and very few or no movements during quieter weeks. Truck movements take place between 7am–5pm. The Council is currently investigating an alternative temporary access point to avoid traffic accessing the site via Grassmere Street.”
Think Papanui understands that ‘four trucks per hour’ during active weeks means four deliveries per hour, ie four truck movements in and four truck movements out. The trucks are understood to be large truck/trailer combinations such as those as pictured above.
Think Papanui has requested further information from the Council, but has not received answers prior to publication of this article. When further information is available, especially in relation to options for a new road in the area, and investigation of an alternative temporary access point to avoid traffic accessing the site via Grassmere St, an updated article will be published.
The Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board will meet for the last time before the upcoming elections this Thursday 11 September at 4pm in the Papanui boardroom. The agenda includes:
The meeting is open for the public to attend and will be livestreamed on the Board’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Click through for the full agenda:
https://christchurch.infocouncil.biz/Open/2025/09/PCBCC_20250911_AGN_9141_AT_WEB.htm
Detailed traffic resolutions for the first section of the Wheels to Wings Major Cycle Route will be decided by the Council on 3 September.
Construction of this section was approved earlier this year, along with installation of traffic signals at the Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection and at Harewood School, plus minor safety improvements. All remaining sections of the Wheels to Wings have been deferred to later years in the Long-Term Plan (LTP).
Staff were previously asked to investigate a raised safety platform at the Harewood Road signalised pedestrian/cycle crossing between Matsons Avenue and Chapel Street, and this has been included in the design.
A report to next week’s Council meeting recommends amending the District Plan, zoning for more medium density areas.
If approved, this will increase Christchurch’s future housing capacity to meet a Government requirement of a 30-year high growth projection plus 20% contingency. In turn, this will enable the Council to apply to withdraw from the remainder of proposed changes under Plan Change 14 – specifically the city-wide MDRS (Medium Density Residential Standards) which allow up to three dwellings of up to three storeys on a property without needing to apply for a resource consent.
Parts of Papanui currently zoned Residential Suburban (RS), generally on the boundary of current High Density Residential zoning (HRZ), is proposed to be rezoned to Medium Density Residential (MRZ). MRZ allows buildings up to 12m (generally 3 storey) and up to 3 residential units per site, whereas RS provides predominantly for single or two storeyed detached or semi-detached houses.
The Council has published an interactive map showing current and proposed zoning city-wide.
More information can be found in the Council meeting agenda (see item 13).
Almost eight years to the day after the Cranford Regeneration plan was approved by Gerry Brownlee, acting as the Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration, work to progress housing in the area is getting underway.
While the plan originally envisaged around 370 new houses, the figure currently quoted by the Council is around 1400 new homes. Think Papanui understands that this figure relates to part of the total area to be developed.
The Council now has a web page with information on Council- and developer-led projects, including water and wastewater upgrades, options for alternative access to the site, a trial of ground conditions, and flood management work.
Information on candidates campaigning for Council and Community Board election in Papanui Ward are now available on the Council’s website. See the Council website for full details.
