Victoria Square plan ‘misleading, lacks detail’

The latest Victoria Square restoration plan lacks detail and should not be endorsed without more information, a Christchurch landscape architect says.

Grant Edge, who was involved in the original design of the square in the 1980s, told Christchurch City councillors on Thursday the new plan was nothing more than a technical brief and it was misleading to call it a restoration plan.

‘‘There is no detail and the devil is in the detail,’’ he said. ‘‘What will the light poles look like? What will the pavers be? How wide will the footpaths be? These are all open to a high degree of interpretation.’’

Edge, a member of the Victoria Square Reference Group, was concerned the council’s endorsement of the existing plan could lead to unexpected results and be an embarrassment to Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Associate Minister Nicky Wagner and the council.

Councillors were asked by the Christchurch Central Development Unit to endorse the latest plan, put together following community consultation, before it received the final tick from Wagner.

The plan would leave the layout of Victoria Square largely unchanged and proposed repairs and restoration of existing features.

CCDU caused public outrage last year when it announced plans to spend $7 million redeveloping Victoria Square. CCDU put the project on hold while it received public feedback. It released a new restoration plan in July, which heritage advocates described as a ‘‘victory for the residents’’.

The plan would keep the floral clock and all of the trees, statues, flagpoles and the heritage phone box. The Bowker Fountain would be restored and lit at night. There would be a shared path for cyclists and walkers. New features included additional seating and lighting, while paths would be widened, paving upgraded and art added.

Mark Gerrard, spokesman for the Victoria Square No Need for Change group, said he did not want to hold up work, but more detail was needed. He wanted the public to be consulted before new objects or art works were added.

‘‘Victoria Square already has two statues, a fountain, flag poles, trees, light standards, an Edwardian telephone box, so vigorous reassessment should be done before any more are added.’’

Gerrard requested the council seek more detail about the widening of the pathways and measures for cyclists.

Cr Yani Johanson said the council needed to see the detailed design because there was so much uncertainty about what was being proposed.

He was also concerned about mixing cyclists and walkers.

‘‘It does seem illogical to create points of conflict.’’

The council endorsed the revised plan, in principle, but decided to create a working group of councillors to work with the reference group to consider the design features.