Regenerate Christchurch's Redcliffs School and Redcliffs Park section 71 Proposal was approved on 8 May 2018 by Hon Dr Megan Woods, the Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration (Minister) under sections 69 and 71 of the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Act 2016 (GCR Act).
The approval was gazetted on 10 May 2018.
Gazette Notice: Decision on Redcliffs School and Redcliffs Park
The Proposal fast tracks the necessary changes to the Christchurch District Plan to enable the relocation of Redcliffs School to Redcliffs Park and the existing Redcliffs School site to become a park.
The Proposal supports the regeneration of greater Christchurch and improves the well-being, resilience and cohesiveness of the local community through retaining both a primary school and a park within the Redcliffs area. Both sites are rezoned at the same time.
It took effect on 11 May 2018.
The decision was publicly notified in The Press on Saturday 12 May 2018.
Public Notice: Decision on Redcliffs School and Redcliffs Park
The Redcliffs School and Redcliffs Park Proposal, the first section 71, GCR Act, proposal, supports the regeneration of the Redcliffs community, in particular, and greater Christchurch in general.
The full name of the Proposal is:
"Redcliffs School and Redcliffs Park: Proposal to exercise the power under section 71 of the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Act to designate Redcliffs Park for education purposes and for the existing Redcliffs School site to be rezoned as Open Space."
Read more about Dr Woods announcing the approval of the Proposal on the Beehive website.
Decision to approve the Proposal
In making her decision, the Minister considered the Proposal, the 353 written comments received during the written period and the requirements of the GCR Act.
Of the 353 written comments received, 236 supported, 114 opposed the Proposal and 3 were neither for nor against the proposal.
- The majority of submitters supported the Proposal because they wanted to see the return of a school to the Redcliffs community as soon as possible.
- Submitters not supporting the Proposal generally had concerns about natural hazards and safety with the Redcliffs Park site, loss of recreational space or a preference for alternative legislative processes.
Redcliffs School and Redcliffs Park submission comments
Redcliffs School section 71 proposal - Summary and analysis of submissions
The key themes from the submissions were:
- Urgency to re-establish a school back within the community
- The benefits of Redcliffs Park as a proposed site
- Natural hazards and other safety concerns with the proposed Redcliffs Park site
- Loss of recreational space
- Alternative legislative processes.
The Minister recognised the significance of natural hazards in making her decision and took into account:
- The buildings have an intended life of 50 years and the Proposal outlines, as a result of expert reports, that development of the Redcliffs Park site will result in an extremely low risk to life and buildings up to 2070.
- The Proposal identifies that there is unlikely to be significant damage or loss to the proposed buildings as a result of any inundation.
- The conditions restrict the location of buildings on the site and include specific floor level and stormwater restrictions to address the impacts of natural hazards.
- Both the Ministry of Education and Regenerate Christchurch commissioned expert technical reports before the Proposal was finalised.
- Relocating the school meets an immediate need of the Redcliffs community, and does not mean there will be further development in the coastal hazard zone.
Alternative legislative processes
Other possible processes were considered, including a regeneration plan and Resource Management Act processes. However, for various reasons, they were not considered appropriate for this proposal, and also, would likely have taken significantly longer than the section 71 process.
For more information about the Minister's decision:
Redcliffs School section 71 proposal - Ministerial Decision Paper
Next steps
The changes to the Christchurch District Plan came into effect on 11 May 2018.
This meant the Ministry of Education could advance the planning with the Redcliffs School Board of Trustees to relocate the school to Redcliffs Park.
It also meant the land acquisition of Redcliffs Park could be finalised and site works could commence in preparation for the start of construction. Te Raekura Redcliffs School was officially opened by the Prime Minister on 25 June 2020.
Written comment period
The Minister received the Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch on 31 January 2018.
On 5 March 2018, she decided to exercise her powers, pursuant to section 67 of the GCR Act to proceed with the Proposal.
In accordance with section 68 of the GCR Act the Proposal was publicly notified and an invitation to people to give their views in writing on the Proposal was published on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) website, in the Gazette on 9 March 2018 and in The Press on Saturday 10 March 2018.
Anyone could make a written comment, to be received by 5pm, Tuesday 3 April 2018.
Open for Written Comment—Redcliffs School and Redcliffs Park (Gazette website)
Public notice: Redcliffs School and Redcliffs Park Section 71 Proposal
About the Proposal
The Minister received the Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch, on 31 January 2018.
Redcliffs School and Redcliffs Park relocation: Section 71 Proposal
Christchurch City Council and the Ministry of Education have agreed to swap land to enable the relocation of Redcliffs School to the site of the current Redcliffs Park, and the establishment of a park on the site of the current Redcliffs School (shown in the map above).
However, certain designation and land use zoning changes to the Christchurch District Plan were necessary to enable this to happen. The Proposal puts forward the use of section 71 of the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Act 2016 to make these changes to the District Plan.
Using section 71 would enable these changes to be made in one process. This would be significantly faster and enable the rebuild of the Redcliffs School and development of Redcliffs Park to start sooner than making the changes using the Resource Management Act 1991, which would require two processes.
The strategic partners (Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury, Ngai Tahu, Selwyn District Council, Waimakariri District Council) and the Chief Executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet were asked for feedback on a draft of the Proposal as part of the process required by the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Act 2016.
These comments (see the concise summary document below) raised a number of concerns including future flooding, transport access and rockfall.
Redcliffs School and Redcliffs Park relocation: Section 71 Proposal (including the concise summary document)
Regenerate Christchurch considered the feedback and has included specific design measures in the Proposal which would have to be undertaken in the development of a school on the Redcliffs Park site to address these concerns. These include specific floor level and stormwater storage requirements.
The Redcliffs Park site consists of two different levels. The school buildings would be mainly located on the higher level, and playing fields and carparking would be located on the lower level.
Background to the Proposal
Following the Canterbury earthquakes Redcliffs School was relocated to Van Asch Deaf Education Centre in Sumner. From early 2015 to late 2016 consultation was undertaken about the future of the school and the decision was made to relocate the school to another location.
The Ministry of Education asked Christchurch City Council to consider swapping Redcliffs Park for the similarly sized school site.
Christchurch City Council agreed to proceed with the proposed land swap on 7 September 2017 following extensive public consultation undertaken from 29 May to 26 June 2017 and panel hearings.
For more about the background to the relocation of Redcliffs School, see the Ministry of Education's 'Shaping Education' website:
Redcliffs School updates (Shaping Education website)