Park buy for school in pipeline
A new Redcliffs School site is a step closer – the Government has applied to buy Redcliffs Park.
The Ministry of Education has made an expression of interest to buy the Christchurch City Council-owned park for the new school, the school’s board of trustees was told yesterday.
Principal Rose McInery was pleased a ‘‘good second option’’ for its return to Redcliffs was being progressed, and pledged to work alongside locals dissatisfied with the ministry’s decision making.
It was understood section of the park along Main Rd would be used for the school buildings, rather than the sports fields, although negotiations and geotechnical reports were yet to begin.
The Redcliffs School site would become a new public park as part of a ‘‘land swap’’ deal, a board representative said.
Ministry head of education infrastructure Kim Shannon said the agency hoped to finalise the park’s acquisition this year and begin construction for a 250-pupil school in mid-2018.
The new Redcliffs School would be operational by term three of 2019. The council was expected to consult the community on the proposed sale should the ministry’s application be progressed.
Redcliffs School has operated from the Van Asch Deaf Education Centre in nearby Sumner since June 2011 and McInery said it was ‘‘time to go home’’.
She preferred a return to the school’s original site but said the decision to move to Redcliffs Park was out of her hands.
‘‘We really care about the neighbours’ views on the park. When the news come out last year it was quite a shock, so as a school we are listening to what they had to say. We obviously want what’s best for our community but we’re six years out of our school zone now and we want to go home.’’
Redcliffs Residents’ Association secretary Dr Pat McIntosh said there was an ‘‘overwhelming need’’ to return the school to the suburb, but locals were yet to be consulted about the potential loss of space and neighbours’ views across the park.
Even siting Redcliffs School on the edge of the park would likely mean the loss of its pavilion and public toilets, she said.
‘‘I think the degree of upset will depend on what the plans look like.’’
Friends of Redcliffs Park chairwoman Simi Desor said a ‘‘significant number’’ of locals opposed the school’s relocation but feared public action could harm the school’s future.
She questioned why the former Redcliffs School site, deemed unsuitable because of ‘‘psychological reasons’’ and the risk of rockfall, was an acceptable location for a park but not the school.
‘‘The fact that they’re going to do a land swap implies the old site is perfectly safe. Why would you [have] kids running around under a cliff if it was unsafe?’’
The park was within Christchurch’s inundation zone and susceptible to coastal erosion over the next 50 years, she said.