The Christchurch City Council is in the early stages of preparing an area plan for the Upper Styx/Harewood locality.

The study site is generally bounded to the north and west by the Styx River. The eastern edge is defined by Cavendish Road and the boundaries to the south and south west are defined by Grampian Street, Claridges Road, Tulett Park and Sawyers Arms Road. The site lies in the Upper Styx/ Purakaunui River catchment and is an area of high groundwater and generally poorly drained soils. At present the area is zoned Rural 3 and principal land uses are agriculture, horticulture and lifestyle blocks. See the map for more details.

The need for the Upper Styx/Harewood Area Plan arose from submissions on the Proposed City Plan and Environment Court Hearings where land owners sought to rezone a smaller area (within the initial study site) from rural to urban. While their intentions were not successful, comments from the Court in its decision suggested that the area might have urban potential and needed to be looked at in a comprehensive manner.

The Area Plan process takes a holistic approach to assessing the locality, looking at issues such as groundwater, wildlife, vegetation, soils, natural enhancement as well as urban design, community aspirations, provision of services, and future land use options.

The purpose of the Upper Styx/Harewood Area Plan is to provide a basis for the Council, landowners, developers and the public to answer the question : if urban development is to occur in the area, what issues need to be resolved and what steps need to be taken to ensure that environmental effects are managed in an integrated manner?

The timeframe for Area Plans is typically two years, depending on the complexity of the issues.

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