Technical Tours
Sunday 26 July
The technical tours are hosted by Christchurch City Council. All tours depart from the Christchurch Convention Centre, 95 Kilmore Street at 1.00pm. Please select the tour you wish to attend on the registration form or online registration. The cost of each tour is $31.11+GST.
Sustainable Built Environment Tour
This tour will highlight three projects that are revitalising the heart of Christchurch into a more attractive and safer space and also generating substantial levels of new private investment and commercial activity.
First stop is the lanes precinct, the redevelopment of formerly derelict lanes behind commercial buildings into an area which is now thriving with retail, hospitality, residential and commercial activities.
The tour continues to the Bus Exchange. Increased bus patronage has put pressure on the central city's existing Bus Exchange which has been an international model for passenger transportation. You will visit the existing facility and learn of the plans for the new Interchange.
The tour's final stop is the Christchurch Civic Building, a 50/50 joint venture between Christchurch City Council and Ngai Tahu Property to develop the new home for the council. Environmental sustainability
is a priority for both organisations and the development will strive to achieve the highest Green Star Rating for any refurbished building in New Zealand.
Waste Minimisation Tour
Visit Christchurch City Council's new advanced waste treatment technologies that have been introduced as part of the new three bin collection system aimed at reduced recyclable and organic material going
to landfill.
You will visit the Meta Processing Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) which can process up to 30 tonne/
hour of paper, plastics (type 1 to 7), cardboard, metals, aluminium and glass. You will also see the new
state-of-the art Living Earth Organics Processing Plant which is capable of processing 64,000 tonne per annum of organic and green waste into high grade compost. The tour observes Becon Canterbury MRF which is for commercial and construction waste and provides business and commercial operations with an economical and environmentally sound alternative to sending dry waste into landfill. Finally, you will visit the Strickland Street Community Gardens which promote sustainability in a supportive and participating neighbourhood development project. A useful focal point for the community, the garden uses recycled residential waste, both organic and inorganic.
Multi-use Recreational Environment on the City Edge
This tour will visit recreational parkland and conservation areas in peri-urban ChristchurchCity. The tour begins with a visit to Spencer Park and Brooklands Lagoon where you will see a family recreation and a parkland area undergoing ecological restoration and recreational reinvigoration.
The tour drives through Bottle Lake Forest, a commercial forest with large public usage facing growing demand from an evolving range of recreational activities.
The tour stops at Bottle Lake Forest Park Headquarters and park rangers will give you insight into their role and responsibilities managing Christchurch's regional parks.
The next stop at the Bottle Lake Forest Landfill will show how it is being rehabilitated to enable recreational use, as well as being a source of biogas for the city. This tour also includes the chance for a short bike ride in the forest with commentary from City Council Rangers and restoration project leaders.
NB. Suitable clothing and footwear is required for the bicycle component of the tour.
