Williams Poto: Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWilliams Poto: Greater Christchurch Regeneration Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 31 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:10105. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]POTO WILLIAMS (Labour—Christchurch East):I too want to join with others in this House to acknowledge the work that has gone on behind the scenes by Minister Gerry Brownlee; by the Hon Lianne Dalziel who is present in the gallery today; and by various members from across the House who have workshopped what was a piece of legislation that Labour could not support when it first came back to the House but with the collaboration and the considered work that happened behind the scenes is now something that has support from across the House. This is no mean feat Minister and I want to acknowledge your leadership in ensuring that that has occurred.There are some changes that happened in that process in that workshopping that are quite significant and I want to remark on what they are. What this legislation now provides for us as locals is some better input into the planning and the decision making around what the future of our city will look like. It is about the residents and the communities actually having a much bigger say and much bigger buy-in into the kind of city that we can create together. This bill actually forms the basis of that relationship between the Government Christchurch City Council the other territorial local authorities Ngāi Tahu Environment Canterbury and the structures that sit together to ensure that our people have a say in establishing a positive and forward-thinking forward-looking city.The plans as they have been developed needed to have greater input from the people who will eventually have to live within the implementation of those plans and there is recognition that work has already been happening in this area. In that regard I want to point particularly to a piece of work that happened last year called the EVO::SPACE project by Eastern Vision and Avon-Ōtākaro Network. What this particular piece of work demonstrated was the power of the positivity of a community to see beyond the rubble and beyond the open spaces and envision what could become fantastic areas for recreation sports and other facilities within the residential red zone.But there have been other people who have contributed to continuing to have a vision for our city and I want to mention those who are specific to the eastern suburbs. They are people and groups like Renew Brighton and the New Brighton Project the New Brighton Business and Landowners Association and all of those community organisations from Southshore right up to Kainga that have a vested interest in ensuring that this piece of legislation is fit for purpose for the kind of future city and future community that they would like.The changes that this bill has brought about have meant that there is a transfer of power from Wellington to locals that there is a reduction in the use of emergency powers—though there will be some use of those powers required in the future—and that there is also greater local input into the decision making. So what does that mean for the people of the Christchurch East electorate? Well specifically the residential red zone and the New Brighton area have special letters of intent with regard to the significance of the regeneration plans. For the residential red zone there are opportunities and decisions that can now go in place. I mentioned the EVO::SPACE project where locals talked about the types of facilities that they would like within the residential red zone knowing full well that at some point development will have to occur. They would like also to see the opportunity to have wide open spaces to have rowing lakes to have dog-walking parks and to have opportunities such as may be presented by the Eden project.There are still some decisions to be made. What happens to the New Brighton Road? Is there an opportunity to use some of this land within the red zone for flood mitigation? What will happen to the stopbanks along the Avon River which are causing quite some concern at the moment? How will Regenerate Christchurch actually recognise and celebrate the people families and institutions that were part of that vibrant community before they had to lock up their homes and leave all those years ago? For some this is a very emotional part of Regenerate Christchurch because leaving meant that they felt like they had been cleared from their land and their property. It is very hard for some members of our community.I would ask when we are looking at plans for the residential red zone that we acknowledge there is significant emotional response to that land and that we are sensitive in our plans because of it. We already know that the Waimakariri District Council has been able to work on the potential remediation of land. Is that going to be possible in the residential red zone? How long will the land lie vacant? As my colleague Dr Megan Woods said it is something that makes your heart sad to see that where there had been families there had been communities and there had been children that land is now lying vacant and other than the care of some local people much of it is not cared for well. So what is to become of that land? What also is to become of the residents who were either uninsured unwilling to leave or unhappy with the offer that was presented to them by the Crown? Those decisions have not been made. At least we have an opportunity to revisit that.What about the iconic and fantastic community of New Brighton? We welcome the opportunity to work specifically with those community organisations and individuals around the restoration of this iconic suburb and its importance to the eastern suburbs of Christchurch. We all know—we have often heard talk over the passage of this bill about New Brighton as it was in its heyday in the 1960s. It was the only place where you could shop on a Saturday—right through to the development in the 1970s of the pedestrian mall. Those of you who come to Christchurch will now see that the commercial heart of the area has been in decline. It has been in decline for some years. There is a great sense of hope now that the Government is on board as that significant third partner along with the Christchurch City Council and local stakeholders that we will now have the opportunity to put into effect the master plan—the plans that have been designed for the community and by the community that will really regenerate the retail and commercial heart of New Brighton and therefore regenerate the retail and commercial heart of the eastern suburbs. There are many people to thank for their continuation of that vision throughout these long 5 years.Just in conclusion I want to say that I have valued the opportunity to talk with those people who will eventually go on to run those organisations particularly Development Christchurch and that they have sought the views of not only local people but local community leaders in the eastern suburbs. I really welcome the opportunity of seeing those plans enacted. On that note we are very pleased to support this bill. Those of us in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch know that there has been a lot of work to get the legislation into a shape that we are comfortable with and know that we can work together with the Government and our local politicians for the future of our city. Thank you.