Christchurch council spends $25 million buying land for cycleways, roads and flood schemes

The council bought this property on Barrington St, reports Star.Kiwi.

The Christchurch City Council has spent more than $25 million buying properties for cycleways, roading projects and flood remediation in the past two years.

Figures released to Star.Kiwi under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act show since November 2015, thecouncil has bought 42 properties and pieces of land, costing $25.1 million.

The latest purchases, finalised last month, were two properties in Somerfield bought to make way for the Quarryman's Trail cycleway.

The properties, on Roker and Barrington Sts, cost $915,000 and were contentious as the owners were not keen to sell.

Another $2 million was spent on properties for the Northern Arterial, to run from just south of the Waimakariri River to QEII Drive.

They included some land on Winters Rd, Cranford St and Innes Rd to make room for Cranford St to become four lanes.

Some properties were bought for flood remediation for the upper Heathcote storage project, the Styx stormwater management plan, and Bells Creek.

Another 13 houses and properties in Flockton Basin cost $3m. Some were needed for the Dudley Creek Flood Remediation Scheme and seven had to be bought because they could not be protected from flooding, even after the $48 million flood scheme is finished.

The council also spent $24,240 on two street frontages on Lincoln Rd for a road widening project.

From 2011 to November 2015, the city council spent $65.1m buying property.