Godley House Site Future

Meeting Monday 13 May 2019

Attendance:
Andrea Wild – CCC Community Development Advisor, Samantha Sharland – CCC Engagement Advisor, John Thornton – CCC Parks Planner
Graeme Fraser, Richard Suggate, Thomas Kulpe, Christine Turner, Joy McLeod, Karen Colyer, Paul Pritchett – DH Reserves Committee, DH Community Association, Church Bay Neighbourhood Association Committee
The meeting commenced with the DHCA providing a brief review of engagement on the issue since 2011. Council then provided background on the legal status of the land and their preferred process of reviewing its future.

The land is recreation reserve vested in the Council in the early 20th century. A separate drawn plan showing the site boundary, was created in 1988, when a lease was drawn up for Godley House. At that time the Banks Peninsula Council failed to complete the revocation of the recreation reserve status. The Council went ahead and leased the land to the hotel and the subsequent garden centre/gift shop, as if it were freehold land. These commercial activities are generally incompatible with recreation reserves.

As no revocation of reserve status was legally undertaken, the area is still recreation reserve. The land is still zoned commercial in the district plan, which the Council was saying they would change.

The Council proposed incorporating the area into the Stoddart Point Reserves Management Plan and reviewing that plan to update it. During the proposed consultation process the Council was to consider uses compatible with its recreation reserve status. This may well preclude something like a café. The foundations are also protected under the Historic Places Act 1993 and approval would be required for their modification or removal.

The community representatives responded that there was a wide range of views on what should happen to the site. These ranged from preservation in its current state to intensive commercial development. We said that the consultation process should consider the most desired uses for the site and once they had been confirmed the land status should be defined. If necessary, the reserve status should be changed to a different type of reserve, or the reserve status revoked. The Council pointed out that any change in status or revocation would require DOC approval.

The community representatives emphasised that it had a prior commercial use for many years, namely a hotel with bar and accommodation. That there had also been a garden centre and gift shop on the land. That the Dark Star (Godley Café) had been established post-earthquake to provide a substitute for Godley House and there was wide expectation that something like that would continue. We also said that the Council had received insurance money for Godley House and therefore should contribute towards some facilities on the site.

The Council representatives agreed to review their course of action. They said that as the community was seeking a commitment from the Council to the future use of the site and Council funding, they will take the response back to the wider Council for consideration. They will advise the community organisations what they proposed to do next after that.

Richard Suggate
DHCA Chair
027 687 6242

29 May 2019
Karleen Edwards
Chief Executive
Christchurch City Council

Dear Karleen
The Council Park Management Team with Council Advisors recently consulted with the Diamond Harbour Community Association and the DH Reserve Management Committee on a proposed process for a review of the reserve status of the site. This was an outcome of a review of the future of the Dark Star café that was on the site. Over 2,000 people signed a petition asking for the retention of the Dark Star Café, which is now demolished.
The Council staff proposed incorporating the area into the Stoddart Point Reserves Management Plan and reviewing that plan to update it. During the proposed consultation process the Council would outline uses compatible with its recreation reserve status. This may well preclude something like a café.

The community representatives responded that there was a wide range of views on what should happen to the site. These ranged from preservation in its current state to intensive commercial development. We said that the consultation process should consider the most desired uses for the site and once they had been confirmed the land status should be defined. If necessary, the reserve status should be changed to a different type of reserve, or the reserve status revoked.

The community representatives emphasised that it had a prior commercial use for many years, namely a hotel with bar and accommodation. That there had also been a garden centre and gift shop on the land. That the Dark Star (Godley Café) had been established post-earthquake to provide a substitute for Godley House and there was wide expectation that something like that would continue. We also said that the Council had received insurance money for Godley House and therefore should contribute towards some facilities on the site.
The Council representatives agreed to review their course of action. They said that as the community was seeking a commitment from the Council to the future use of the site and Council funding, they should go back to the wider Council for consideration. That is why I am writing to you today.

We would like the Council to change its approach, which otherwise may lead to further community disillusionment with the Council. The Council should discover what the community wants and that is very much shaped by what the Council wishes to do. What we don’t want is another exercise in community frustration, if people have no commitment from any Council action on the ground. We have already had this to a degree, when the Council helped us to prepare a Village Concept Plan, which is useful, but what we originally really wanted was a plan for the future of the Godley House site.

This whole matter has been dragging on since 2011 when the community first put up its ideas for what it would like as a replacement for Godley House. We have repeated these ideas now for many years. The Council is not lacking information. During that time the Council has largely ignored the community, or undertook other actions, that while appreciated, have not addressed the future of the Godley House site. With the removal of the Dark Star café, we now expect the Council to make commitments to consider what the community wants as a replacement and what level of financial resources Council can commit. We are still very aware the Council was paid insurance money for the Godley House. I am asking that the Council undertakes a process that will embrace what the community wants, determine how it can support that and then after that establish confirm or change the classification, or status of the land.

Regards
Richard Suggate
Chair, Diamond Harbour Community Association.
0276876242
richard.suggate@gmail.com

11 June 2019
Mr Richard Suggate
Chair Diamond Harbour Community Association
Via email: richard.suggate@gmail.com
Dear Richard

GODLEY HOUSE SITE

Thank you for your letter of 29 May 2019 regarding the proposed public consultation for the former Godley House site in Stoddart Point Reserve.

As mentioned in your letter Council staff recently met with representatives from the Diamond Harbour Community Association and the Diamond Harbour Reserve Management Committee to discuss public consultation for the future use of the reserve. At the meeting there was discussion as to the confusion that had arisen around how the land was held, which was believed to have been freehold land instead of vested as recreation reserve under the Reserves Act 1977.

This misunderstanding that the land was held as freehold and not reserve, was further compounded at the time of the preparation of the Stoddart Point Reserve Management Plan, which excluded the former Godley House site from the overall area of Stoddart Point Reserve.
As mentioned in your letter the community representatives at the meeting suggested a range of future uses for the land and it is for this reason we need to consult with the public as to what their vision is for the land.

In the consultation information we will clearly state how the land is held (as a reserve under the Reserves Act 1977), the possibility and process for a change of classification. The consultation document will contain relevant background information about the history of the site and acknowledge its historic uses, which have included various commercial operations.

We acknowledge community frustration and the work that has been undertaken by the community since 2011 and want this exercise to lay the ground work for decision making on the future of the Godley House site, with the expectation that this will then guide budgetary commitment.

This point was made firmly at the Banks Peninsula Community Board meeting on Monday 10 June who made the following resolutions:
1. Receive the information in the correspondence report dated 10 June 2019.
2. Acknowledge that staff have revised the consultation process for the former Godley House site to firstly determine how the community wishes to use the site in future.
3. Request that staff work with the Diamond Harbour Community Association and the Community Board on the consultation process and documents.
4. Request that staff report to the Board at its next meeting on the matters raised in the correspondence, specifically including the proposed timeframe for the consultation to ensure that outcomes coincide with preparation of the draft Annual Plan.

Thank you for your willingness to assist with working towards a future of this site that will meet the community needs whilst acknowledging the challenges that the current reserve status may present if community feedback demonstrates a desire for this to change.

Yours sincerely
Karleen Edwards
Chief Executive