The St Albans Residents Association (SARA) wants the house in Caledonian Road bought by the city council in 2010 for community use to be used to house homeless community groups and makes this point in its submission to the draft CCC annual plan for 2014-2015.
Following the building of an additional centre building (which was in the consultation phase in September 2010) the house was going to be turned into a car park. However, some months after the earthquakes, CCC chose to make money from the property by renting the house out as a residence rather than using it for community purposes. The wooden house could be adapted for use by several, homeless community groups, struggling without premises since the earthquakes and unable to find new premises. Community groups are part of the social fabric and play a role in the social recovery of the city.
It was not the only point made in the submission to the council’s draft plan. Reading the St Albans Residents Association’s submission to the CCC draft annual plan is a wishlist and an insight into the way SARA sees itself. You can read the submission for the reasoning or get an idea by reading the (longish) summary, compiled from the submission, below:
SARA wants CCC to recognise the old St Albans Borough boundaries, which date back over 100 years and include Merivale and Mairehau, rather than persist with maintaining two profiles that split the suburb in half along Sherborne/Cranford Street.
SARA would like to see CCC partnering with the community to help implement the St Albans Strategy, which contains 20+ ideas to develop the suburb. You can read about the strategy on our website.
The Residents’ Association has made no secret of the fact that it would like to manage the transitional centre and to do so with Council assistance e.g.: Strengthening Communities Fund. It had been successfully running the centre at 1047 Colombo Street in September 2010 when the first earthquake put the centre, and the activities that took place there, out of action.
SARA would also like to see CCC supporting the wider community financially or in other ways:
- Upgrading St Albans Park
- Classifying the Edgeware Croquet Club building as a historic place
- Reopening the Village Green
- Deeming the St Albans pool site as a recreational site and allowing the Pool committee to work towards installation of a new pool
- Creating a transitional project for Warrington Village – it needs a boost
- Allocating more greenspace in the Canon Street to Bealey Avenue area as there is increasing housing density and no greenspace
- Supporting installation of a fitness track in Malvern Park
- Running a tram service from Edgeware Village to the central city
- A bus shelter in Cranford Street near Edgeware Road, heading north
- Imposing a 30km speed limit in the Village end of Colombo Street and Trafalgar Street to make it more pedestrian-friendly. This is part of the route planned for the cycleway
- Enhancing creeks in St Albans to improve drainage and beautify the area
There were a few other points in the submission that apply citywide including:
- The need to make buildings being rebuilt more accessible to people with disabilities, parents with prams etc
- Use of the northern rail line for passengers from Rangiora and Kaiapoi to ease pressure on traffic using and jamming up the Northern Motorway at peak times
- the need for an increase in community grant funding as communities grapple with the consequences of the disaster and ongoing effects (e.g. flooding)
