But the Rolleston that has evolved \u2014 largely a dormitory suburb of Christchurch built on once-productive land \u2014 is very different to the town first envisaged by planners in the early 1970s.<\/p>\n
\u2018Town of the future\u2019<\/p>\n
According to the 2023 census, 52.9% of Rolleston\u2019s residents commute to Christchurch for work, compared to the 32.4% living and working in the town. As my research has found, this was not the original intention.<\/p>\n
In November 1973, the Labour Government of Norman Kirk announced the controversial purchase of 10,000 acres (4000ha) of land to develop a town for up to 50,000 people.<\/p>\n
Influenced by postwar international trends for new towns, the ambitious \u201ctown of the future\u201d project was intended as a solution to Christchurch\u2019s growing population.<\/p>\n
A separate, planned town would help preserve the city\u2019s greenbelts, avoid urban sprawl and encourage economic and population growth in the South Island, away from Auckland in the north.<\/p>\n
It was hoped the town would be \u201cas self-sufficient as possible in terms of industries and recreation to avoid adding further to the problems of Christchurch\u201d.<\/p>\n
The planning work was careful, progressive and informed by international examples. Among its aspirations were affordable housing, alternative transport, sustainable energy and water systems, and a \u201cbalanced community\u201d.<\/p>\n
But in November 1975, when Robert Muldoon and his farmer-friendly National Party came to power, the new government fulfilled an election promise and scrapped what Muldoon called \u201cill-conceived\u201d plans for Rolleston.<\/p>\n
Colin McLachlan, the National MP for Rakaia and a close colleague of Muldoon, had always opposed the compulsory purchase of farmland. And there were fears of creating an under-resourced, \u201cone class, one age\u201d, isolated and socially deprived suburb.<\/p>\n
Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, however, we have to ask whether Rolleston\u2019s original plan, and ideas from the 1970s in general, might have been on the right track \u2014 and could perhaps inform today\u2019s planning.<\/p>\n
Haphazard development<\/p>\n
Those 1970s plans had hoped to avoid cars shaping urban form. Green spaces featured, with a focus on urban design that did away with rows of spread-out houses with big garages facing dominant roads.<\/p>\n
Aware of the social and environmental pitfalls of car dependency, the plans encouraged walking, cycling and public transport \u2014 potentially capitalising on Rolleston\u2019s origins as a railway junction.<\/p>\n
The plans also emphasised the importance of creating a wide range of industry and employment in the town. Public service jobs were suggested, with various kinds of manufacturing. The possibility of a major industrial area adjacent to the town was raised.<\/p>\n
Building an inclusive, resilient community was a priority. It should have a marae, be accessible to disabled and older people, and have strong public services. M\u0101ori and Pacific people were to \u201cretain valued traditions and customs\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, as Muldoon\u2019s command economy gave way to the neoliberal market revolution of the mid-1980s, Rolleston\u2019s urban form was left more to chance than planning.<\/p>\n
Predictably, private real estate interests have dominated its rapid, haphazard development. Climate resilience, such as extensive tree planting and solar panel installation, has not been a priority.<\/p>\n
As predicted in the 1970s, without adequate resourcing, infrastructure and social services struggle to keep up with demand.<\/p>\n
Rolleston now has eight schools, two sports centres and Te Ara \u0100tea \u2013 a library, community and cultural centre. But it is constantly playing catch-up. Much needed after-hours medical care has recently begun, but there is no hospital offering emergency services.<\/p>\n
Learning from the past<\/p>\n
With the Government\u2019s new fast-track law speeding up the proliferation of new subdivisions, the district council (with others throughout New Zealand) is calling for a halt to more greenfield housing applications and the removal of residential developments in rural areas from the Fast-track Approvals Act.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, car-dependent, big-box retail is thriving, including the biggest supermarket in the South Island, with 500 parking spaces. Traffic congestion within the Rolleston town centre is rising.<\/p>\n
The projected expansion of the Inland Port, a transport and logistics hub located to the west of the town near major rail and road systems, promises more employment \u2013 but will also increase road use.<\/p>\n
Rolleston\u2019s experience is familiar, of course. Dormitory suburbs with few new jobs, traffic congestion, expensive new roads, struggling infrastructure, shrinking section sizes, bigger carparks and sprawling growth on arable land have become features of New Zealand development.<\/p>\n
With climate change affecting how and where we live, building resilient places is more important than ever. <\/p>\n
Rolleston offers a case study in the challenges facing planners now \u2014 but also in how historical models might show an economic, social and cultural way forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But the Rolleston that has evolved \u2014 largely a dormitory suburb of Christchurch built on once-productive land \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[167773,288260,4487,29420,71,3273,226,37107,3556,111,43,139,69,3272,1118,6029,660,19328,1314,198662,1240,223,2951,274,8733,6736,47726,15411,2963],"class_list":["post-585616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-110kmh","tag-25km","tag-christchurch","tag-fastest","tag-from","tag-future","tag-growing","tag-multimilliondollar","tag-national","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-nzs","tag-of","tag-once","tag-planning","tag-reach","tag-road","tag-significance","tag-south","tag-the","tag-town","tag-travel","tag-urban","tag-was","tag-what-happened","tag-youll","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}