A street that ‘needs more shops’
For-lease signs and graffiti occupy the windows of new buildings popping up at Christchurch’s Selwyn St shops.
Business owners along this stretch of Selwyn St, comprising businesses running from Brougham St south to Coronation St, want the area brought back to life.
But a lack of business growth and potential car-park cuts are slowing progress, they say.
The city council says a resource consent has been granted for a new, large-scale development on a massive bare site at the corner of Selwyn and Rosewarne streets, but plans to redevelop the streetscape remain years from fruition.
A new building has been erected on the eastern side of the street, but the spaces are untenanted and graffiti marks the windows.
The Selwyn St shops, which were badly damaged in the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, were the subject of a 2012 Christchurch City Council master plan.
Its vision was for a ‘‘prosperous, attractive place for people to live and visit, to spend time and to do business in’’.
Business owners said far more needed to be done to redevelop the street more than six years after the earthquakes.
Pies and Coffee cafe co-owner Sarah Lim said the Selwyn St shops required more effective promotion to be successful. She had operated her business for two years, but said in that time there was ‘‘nothing happening around here’’. ‘‘We need to spread the word in the community to say we have these shops coming back.’’
The council’s proposal to remove car parks along the street, signalled late last year, could be detrimental, she said. The plan was set to be revised.
‘‘It’s a really big concern for us,’’ Lim said.
Selwyn Superette’s Harbhajan Singh wanted more businesses to come back. ‘‘We need some more shops around that area . . . More people will come in and it’s going to help our business as well . . . The way it’s going, I believe it’s going to take a while,’’ he said.
Council head of urban design, urban regeneration and heritage Carolyn Ingles said two actions of the master plan were being led by the city council – the Selwyn St Reserve, bordering Brougham St, and part of Selwyn St itself.
‘‘Following consultation, we have analysed submitter feedback and intend to revise the proposed plan.’’
The council’s draft plan proposed changes to funding for the streetscape enhancement proposal, but funding was still available and the council would continue to develop and consult on the revised plans, she said.
The renewal of the Selwyn St Reserve was in its early development, with funding allocated between 2017 and 2019.
Inglis said a resource consent for a ‘‘comprehensive redevelopment’’ of the site at the corner of Selwyn and Rosewarne streets was granted in 2013.
‘‘Similar to many consented developments, the timing for commencing construction will likely be determined by matters related to commercial viability,’’ Ingles said.
Resource consents were granted in 2014 and 2015 for the redevelopment of two sites on the east side of Selwyn St and the projects had been completed.
A church hall on the corner of Selwyn St and Somerset Cres was under construction.
‘‘Pre-application resource consent advice has been provided for development proposals for other sites within the centre,’’ Ingles said.