15 Aug 2017

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Denton Park has been identified by the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board as the preferred site for Hornby’s planned new library, customer and leisure centre.

Three sites were shortlisted as potential locations for the new facilities but at a lengthy meeting on Saturday the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board settled on Denton Park as their preferred location.

The Board chose Denton Park over Kyle Park and Warren Park after considering advice from Christchurch City Council staff and feedback from the public.

The Council received 293 submissions from the public on the location options for the new facilities. Thirty-eight per cent of the submitters wanted the facilities sited on Denton Park, 43 per cent wanted them on Kyle Park, and 14 per cent wanted them on Warren Park.

Council Head of Recreation, Sports and Events John Filsell said the preferred option identified by Council staff was Denton Park, primarily because it was accessible, close to public transport, geotechnically sound and offered the best possibility of using the planned facilities to help develop a "civic heart'' for Hornby.

Should the development proceed one rugby field and one cricket pitch would be lost as a result of siting the new facilities at Denton Park. There may be other impacts when the detailed work is done in progressing the design, scope and layout of the facility.

Mr Filsell said siting the new facilities on Denton Park did raise some traffic concerns as the Main South Rd was a very busy road. However, completion of the new facilities was likely to coincide with the completion of phase two of the new Christchurch Southern Motorway, which was expected to ease traffic congestion in the area.

As a result of concerns over the impact on sport, traffic and parking, the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board recommended to Council that further work be done around those considerations.

One of the main reasons Kyle Park was not favoured by Council staff was because it was an old landfill site and the ground conditions were very poor.

“We would need to spend so much on land remediation work that we wouldn’t be able to deliver the level of facilities that we could if we built on Denton Park or Warren Park,’’ Mr Filsell said.

The main reason Warren Park was not recommended by Council staff was because it was not easily accessible for those without vehicles.

The Board’s recommendation will be considered by the full Council on 24 August.