Christchurch does not have a good record of showing respect for the Ōpāwaho Heathcote River. It was once used as a sewer and outlet for industrial waste. That industrial disrespect for the river is continuing in 2022 with the Portlink development. We need to give the river its space.

The development in the Portlink Industrial Park beside Tunnel Road is currently drawing appropriately negative community attention due to the height of stacked containers in storage on the site. The approximately 16m height of the stacks is well above the 11m carefully stipulated as the maximum building height in this area by the District Plan. This 11m restriction was specifically delineated as a measure to preserve visual amenity for nearby residents.

Of even greater concern, however, is the encroachment of earthworks associated with this development into the 30m setback from the river. In places, these earthworks crowd in to a mere 6 or so metres from the riverbank with an imposingly high earth berm dominating the environment.

The resource consents for the Portlink development very clearly indicate that a full 20m setback from the riverbank is required before earthworks creating a bund take up another 10m or so. The District Plan specifies for this particular area that within a 30m Landscape and Drainage setback from the river, there can be “…no buildings, fences, outdoor advertising, vehicle parking or any other use other than landscaping, passive recreation, or ecological enhancement.”

Again, these requirements were specifically created for this site to mitigate the issues of industrial zoning next to a natural waterway. These are not arbitrary rules. They were created through a series of extensive and expensive planning hearings conducted by independent planning commissioners in 2008 and again in 2014. Submissions to these hearings were received by these commissioners from all parts of the community including developers and industry.

It seems that some within the industrial land development community have not learnt any of the lessons from history.

In the years from 1850 – 1976, Christchurch residents, its council and its industries used the Ōpāwaho Heathcote River as a convenient drain and sewer. Huge quantities of untreated, unfiltered industrial and residential waste were poured directly into it daily as a convenient and free means of getting rid of it: out of sight, out of mind. Fortunately, good sense, improving science and more capable technology eventually made it possible, and essential, for that wholesale abuse of the river to stop. Now all sewage and industrial waste is passed through the sewage treatment plant in Bromley.

Compared with how it was in the 1950’s even, the river today is a beautiful thing needing only reductions in zinc and copper contaminants as well as fewer sewer overflows and less avian poo to make it suitable for swimming.

The historical waste relationship between industry and the river can still be seen in the manner in which industry clings to the river’s banks in the Woolston Loop with only very small riparian margins. These margins are a vital part of the river’s ecosystem. The trees that grow in the margins should shade the river to keep it cool, thus increasing the oxygen content of the water and encouraging macrobiotic life. The grasses and reeds that might grow in these margins would provide habitat for insects that in turn provide food for birds and fish. Whitebait spawn in these margins.

The improved understanding of the importance of riparian margins is reflected in the Christchurch District Plan which now provides for development setbacks of 30metres from the riverbank.

We might excuse the industrial magnates of the 1880’s for ignoring the ecological needs of the river, but we certainly cannot excuse land developers of the 2020’s for ignoring the requirement to give the river space – and for ignoring the planning rules that are meant to guarantee this.

We look to the City Council to uphold and enforce the rules that give the river its space.