Red zoned land up for lease at Kairaki Beach, North Canterbury

Seaside settlement Kairaki near Kaiapoi in North Canterbury. Photo / Wikipedia

An innovative lifestyle option will soon become available at Kairaki Beach, east of Kaiapoi.
Forty sections for non-permanent buildings will be offered for lease in the Kairaki regeneration area in Featherstone Avenue.

The land was formerly red zone after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. It is now part of the Tuhaitara Coastal Park, managed by Te Kohaka o Tuhaitara Trust.

The benefits of the lease proposal are twofold. It will provide people with a different lifestyle option. It will also provide the trust with valuable funds to continue developing the park.

It is hoped the ''non›permanent buildings'' proviso will add cultural vibrancy to the Kairaki Beach community.

This was a recurring request made by members of the public in submissions about how they would like to see the red zone land developed following the quakes.

Tuhaitara Coastal Park general manager Greg Byrnes says many people are exploring different ways of living.

''It is not unusual for people to live in national parks overseas, and that is actually seen as a benefit to those areas,'' he says.

''The trust is aware that many people are struggling at the moment and want to live in smaller homes.

''We want to find different ways to help with that,'' Byrnes says.

With this in mind, the trust began developing a concept plan for the Kairaki Beach sections in 2018.

''We have been battling away completing that process since then, and now we are ready to see if people are interested in what we are proposing,'' he says.

''We are also formalising our criteria for the selection of lessees.''

The trust has written to Land Information Minister Damien O'Connor to advise him it intends to ask for expressions of interest from potential lessees of the sections.

It will begin advertising for expressions of interest next month.