No powers to prevent Gun City opening new mega store in Christchurch
Gun City owner David Tipple is defending his new Christchurch mega store against community backlash, saying the business is a "legitimate activity".
The new Sockburn store will open on Main South Rd in the first week of August.
The company was granted resource consent for the new store on a non-notified basis in January.
Sockburn resident Glad Rathgen said she felt "disgusted" and "unsafe" a gun store was opening across from her home without any consultation from the council.
READ MORE:
* Gun City confirmed as new owners of The Gun Shop Motueka
* Napier Mayor powerless to stop Gun City setting up in city
* Gun City's David Tipple: Firearms aren't the villain
"My house this is my quiet enjoyment ... I do not expect to have a Gun fricken City right next to it. I said to [the council] how would you feel if this came to your neighbourhood right in front of you without anything."
Rathgen said she felt she was out of options but had considered starting a petition and going around the neighbourhood gathering support.
"I don't know what else I can do. I'm just one person having to put up with bureaucracy gone mad."
Tipple said it was a "legitimate activity" approved by the council.
"The people who have looked into this … have laid down legal requirements and we've ticked all the boxes.
"[The council] have drawn the line and they have said you can do this activity in this area without notification, so if something is to change it's not Gun City that has to do something differently, it's the city council or the law."
He said the new Sockburn site, which will operate as both a retailer and a warehouse, was selected to ease the commute for customers coming from south of the city.
"We had a number of customers say after our shift from the middle of town to north of the city that it made it more difficult for them to visit us.
"We saw that when more people saw our products … we sold more of [them] so we said let's open up another store in Christchurch."
The Cranford St store, which is smaller then the Sockburn site, would remain the company's "hub" as it had more computer systems and storage space, he said.
Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton community board deputy chairwoman Helen Broughton told Stuff she thought the shop was in a better place than other gun stores, as it was in a warehousing area.
She did not have a problem with Gun City coming to the area if it was in a place people had to "consciously go to".
Broughton said the community board and residents were unlikely to be notified about resource consents for retail operations.
"If a babywear shop opened you probably wouldn't be told so ... [Gun City is regarded as] just as another retail activity [under the Resource Management Act]."
It was an issue for central Government lawmakers to tackle, she said.
Christchurch City Council head of resource consents John Higgins said the store was considered a retail activity under the district plan, permitted in the commercial mixed use zone.
"We appreciate the sensitivity around this proposal, particularly in light of the mosque attacks. However, at this time the council doesn't have any regulations in place that specifically control these types of activities," he said.
Tipple said the Sockburn site would be the third Gun City store opened throughout the country so far this year. A fourth site is also expected later in the year.