Urban development teams in for shakeup
Part of economic development agency ChristchurchNZ could be in for a shakeup as the city council looks to reduce costs.
Both ChristchurchNZ and Christchurch City Council have urban development teams and the council has launched an independent review to look at any duplication between the two.
The council employs nine people in its urban regeneration unit which is involved in neighbourhood planning, regeneration advice, policy, placemaking and temporary activation and acts as a liaison to central city businesses.
ChristchurchNZ has a eight full-time equivalent staff in its urban development team, who work on property development projects, provide commercial and strategic advice and promote partnerships with the private sector.
Cr Sam MacDonald, who called for the review to be done, which was supported by the council, said the proposed rates increase was far too high and the council had to look for every efficiency it could.
“The council needs to ensure it’s getting efficiency and effectiveness in every function it does.”
MacDonald said it was a good thing the council was “lifting the hood”, especially given it was forecasting a 13.24% rates increase in the next financial year.
“13% is huge so we’ve got to do something to look at that.”
ChristchurchNZ took on an urban development role when the council decided in December 2021 to amalgamate Development Christchurch Ltd (DCL) into it.
DCL was created in 2016 to help attract private investment in construction projects for the good of the city. The company still exists but only because it holds the council’s 54.7% stake in the Christchurch Adventure Park.
As part of the deal to take on DCL’s role, the council allocated ChristchurchNZ $1.8 million in annual urban development funding up until 2031 and agreed to transfer $20m in land and cash owned by DCL to ChristchurchNZ.
However, the transfer has not yet happened.
A council spokesperson put that down to delays in finalising DCL’s accounts due to the legal action regarding the 2017 Port Hills fires.
However, arrangements had been made for ChristchurchNZ to access the DCL’s land assets as if it formally owned them.
This allowed for ChristchurchNZ to progress development of that land, which included the former convention centre site on Peterborough St, where a new Quest hotel is about to open and 33 townhouses are being built and the former City Care depot on Milton St, where between 60 and 80 homes are planned along with a new research centre for Niwa.
ChristchurchNZ had also been
involved in the Te Pākau Maru housing development on Beresford St, New Brighton, where 63 homes were
being built. But, The Press understands no cash has yet been transferred and it is believed to be in the single-digit millions.
ChristchurchNZ urban development general manager Ca th Carter said capitalisation inland and cash was key to urban development activities already under way. When asked if ChristchurchNZ was concerned about the review, Carter said it made sense to continually review priorities and monitor progress to ensure functions of both organisations were aligned and complementary.
Council city infrastructure general manager Jane Parfitt said the council was looking for two strands of advice from the review.
“One is to look at options to reduce costs and the second is seeking recommendations regarding the best alignment of the urban regeneration function.”
She said there were internal duplications which needed to be explored between two groups within the council, but there were also potential external functions that needed to be looked at regarding the planning, urban regeneration, case management and urban development functions delivered by ChristchurchNZ.
The council had appointed Ruth Stokes, an experienced senior executive, to carry out the review, at a cost of $22,000.
The results would be reported back to the council with options to reduce costs in time for deliberations on the council’s 10-year budget, the long-term plan, which would be finalised in late June.