‘Twisty’ bridge to be in golf course
A section of an earthquake-twisted bridge will become part of a new central Christchurch mini golf course, while another bit could form a memorial in the city’s east.
That was the compromise decided by the Christchurch City Council yesterday, after community leaders lambasted the organisation for not consulting them before progressing plans to allow a section of the Medway St bridge to be used as part of the mini golf course.
The Medway St bridge was damaged in the September 2010 earthquake and in 2013 was cut into three pieces, removed and put into storage at Ferrymead Heritage Park.
The bridge was expected to remain there until a permanent home could be found for it to become a memorial.
Gap Filler and Serious Fun Partnership now want to use one bridge section in a heritagethemed 18-hole mini golf course being built on the corner of Madras and Armagh streets on the east frame.
The course was a temporary project with a four-year lease and Gap Filler intended to return the section of the bridge once the lease expired.
The land was intended to be developed by Fletcher Living for housing in 2021.
Earthquake recovery community leader Leanne Curtis yesterday told the council it had failed by not consulting the community on this issue.
‘‘You know our numbers, you knew that we lived there and that we had the heart of the area, yet it did not occur to anybody to say ‘Hang on there is a whole community there that cared’.
‘‘Just because we have disbanded does not mean we are not important.’’
Curtis said the bridge was not just a piece of metal. It was a connector between two suburbs and one of the few assets in the east the community wanted to hold on to.
If the bridge was to be used in the city, it also had to go back to the east, she said.
‘‘Don’t assume that because the community is not still there it does not care. It cares.’’
The council decided to allow one bridge section to be used at the course, but also to investigate with urgency using another part of the bridge as a transitional structure at its original location.
Cr Vicki Buck said voting against the bridge being used at the course was condemning a chunk of heritage to sit unloved at Ferrymead.
‘‘That does not seem to be the most lively and vibrant way of telling the story of the heritage.’’
Community leader Evan Smith said the bridge became an iconic graphic portrayal of the earthquakes and was a rallying point for residents after the disasters.
After the meeting, Smith said he could live with the decision made by the council.
‘‘We support what Gap Filler is doing and always have done, it’s just in that in this instance part of the process was missing.’’
Gap Filler co-founder Ryan Reynolds told councillors he first heard there were community concerns about the bridge being used when he read the council report.
‘‘It makes me feel awful that we have in some way hurt these people, who are city heroes.’’
He would now work with Curtis and Smith on the wording of the story of the bridge that would accompany it at the course.
Heritage New Zealand was supplying stories for other holes.