	HOME \| LATEST NEWS \| BLOG \| TAKE ACTION \| IMPACT ASSESSMENT \| IMAGES
	UPDATE: High Court Hearing to go ahead

High Court Hearing

Last week SOAC took the decision to go ahead with the High Court hearing despite an unfavourable opinion from Crown Law ( see below). The decision was not taken lightly but we believe it is in the public interest to get some certainty about the extent of the powers granted to the Arts Centre Trust Board under its deed. However, we have withdrawn the action against the Council in order to focus on the trust deed.

Today a pre-hearing conference took place before Justice Fogarty. He indicated that the hearing would take place in August in one of two available weeks in the High Court calendar. This is further down the track than we anticipated when he announced that he was putting us on the new Fast Track procedure in his decision on the interim injunction. The delay will give us a welcome breathing space after the Resource Management proceedings which begin next week. Judge Fogarty announced that he would not preside over the hearing because in the past he has acted for both the City Council and the University. At this stage we do not know which Judge will preside.

Crown Law Opinion

SOAC is naturally disappointed with the opinion of Crown Law on the trust deed, but it is only an opinion and not a definitive Court ruling. We believe the opinion is open to challenge which is one reason why we have decided to continue with the High Court proceedings.

Click here to read the response of our lawyer to the Crown Law opinion

Archive of Articles Relating to the

proposed Music School

[ click here ]

Save Our Arts Centre began in July 2009 when Richard Sinke of the Dux de Lux invited a group of people who shared concerns about the proposal to build a music school for the University of Canterbury at the Arts Centre of Christchurch to meet on a regular basis to exchange information and ideas. From this informal grouping the idea grew that a more formal society should be formed which would not only fight the current proposal, but would continue to take an interest in how the Arts Centre is managed for the benefit of the people of Christchurch.

The Society was formally incorporated in October 2009. The main objects of the Society are to benefit the community by:

(a) Protecting and securing to the Members of the Society and the people of Christchurch their rights, entitlements and interests in the social, cultural, heritage, historical, public open space and public amenity benefits of the Arts Centre of Christchurch (the “Arts Centre”) as gifted to the people of Christchurch.

(b) Supporting the campaign to acquire United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage Status for the collection of gothic revival buildings (including the Arts Centre) in Christchurch.

(c) Promoting the New Zealand ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural

Heritage Value.

Download the full Constitution here.

Needless to say, our focus so far has been on protecting and securing the Arts Centre.

We have a run an information campaign aimed at getting factual information and expert opinion into the public arena. This has included establishing this website, writing opinion pieces in the newspapers, letters to the editor and interviews on radio and television.
We successfully campaigned for the Council to hold a consultation on the proposed funding by Council. Although this was limited to issues of financing it provided an opportunity for many to participate and gained us valuable time to better inform the public about the issues.
We used the Ombudsman's powers to successfully demand the release of key financial information, including the amount of the proposed City Council loan of $24.3 million, which had been withheld by the Council from the public.
We made very strong submissions to Council consultation. Some Councillors changed from their previous support for the proposal, but not quite enough. In the end the vote was 7-6 to grant the loan.
We ran a petition against the proposal signed by over 4500 people. Unfortunately this did not sway the Council. However, we have launched a second petition because of the number of requests we have received to keep a petition going. Click here to download forms.
We have filed a claim in the High Court to challenge the validity of the changes made to the Trust Deed by the Arts Centre Trust Board, as well as the validity of the Council decision because of predetermination. We are also seeking an order that hearings for the subdivision of the Arts Centre site and the additional City Council carpark take place at the same time as the hearing for the music school (should that still be necessary). Click here for more details.
We have filed for an interim injunction to prevent the Resource Consent hearing from taking place until the above issues have been resolved in the High Court.

SOAC works closely with other like-minded organisations such as the Christchuch Civic Trust and ICON.

Save Our Arts Centre

Save Our Arts Centre
Email: help@soac.org.nz
Phone: (03) 366-6918
Fax: (03) 366-5341

Postal:
Save Our Arts Centre
C/- Dux De Lux
PO Box 150
Christchurch

To become a member of SOAC, (an incorporated society), please send $25.00 per person.

Either: Send to SOAC, PO Box 150, Christchurch with name, address and email
Or: direct banking 38 9009 0853764 00. Please put ‘M’ in front of your name and initial as a reference, e.g. MHercus. A. By putting ‘M’ in front of your name, we can identify you as paying a membership fee.

Any donation – large or small - to support the continuing fight is most welcome.

Either: Send to SOAC, PO Box 150, Christchurch with name, address and email
Or: direct banking 38 9009 0853764 00. Please give us your name and initial as a reference, e.g. Hercus. A.

Expertise, e.g. typing or graphic design?
Other skills, e.g. writing articles
Prepared to collect signatures against for the petition?
Anything else you can

Just contact us through one of the ways listed on the right hand side of the page