Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 68
new-zealand-labour-party
Thu Jun 30 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 68
Thursday, 30 June 2011, 12:52 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
Christchurch
LABOUR MPs
30 June 2011 MEDIA STATEMENT
Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 68
The Labour Party’s Christchurch electorate MPs, Earthquake Recovery spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove (Waimakariri), Ruth Dyson (Port Hills), Lianne Dalziel (Christchurch East) and Brendon Burns (Christchurch Central) have started a regular bulletin to keep people in their electorates and media informed about what is happening at grass roots level.
CLAYTON COSGROVE: I have been at a meeting of 20 to 30 Kaiapoi residents ---- all from one of the worst parts --- this morning. They are living in an orange zone. That means that everything --- including their lives --- is on hold. These people are very strong people, but they are also becoming very angry. Three themes emerged from today’s meeting. The first is that they are angry at the lack of information generally they are receiving from the Government. The second is that specifically they are angry with the way the Government has handled the Kaiapoi situation, particularly not explaining properly why everything has now been put on hold. And, thirdly, they are distressed because now that they are in an orange zone, they can no longer get any joy from insurance companies. To sum up the mood of the meeting --- these residents are extremely frustrated at their lot. Many of them fear they will be thousands of dollars out of pocket. They are feeling let down. And they want action!
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RUTH DYSON: The long awaited demolitions have started, bringing mixed emotions and new work! We are all very sad as we see the demolition this week of the Sumner Community Centre and Museum, the Redcliffs Library and the Woolston Library. The Sumner team, led by Topsy Rule, has already got all the assets out of the Centre and Museum. Thanks also to the brilliant Sumner Fire Brigade. Redcliffs has been emptied and the library is now at the croquet club, but Woolston gives us a new challenge this morning! The books are all stored in the back but that has to come down at the same time as the rest of the building. We have negotiated to get all the books into storage this morning and have been overwhelmed by offers of help. It will be a busy couple of hours, but so great to see hours and hours of volunteer library work recognised by this support from the community. I attended the most brilliant Winter Blast for the East, MCd by our very own Janice Gray --- a fantastic array of talent for two hours of entertainment, and all free!! The Sports Bar at the Woolston Club was absolutely jam packed with people having a great time. Well done, Diana Saxton, and the Hagley Ferrymead Community Board for organising this.
LIANNE DALZIEL: The Bexley Residents Association AGM had a large turnout of about 100 last night --- ten times as many as last year. It has resulted in two groups being formed, BAG and BUG. BAG, the Bexley Action Group, will advocate for the 860 households that make up the suburb where I live, and BUG, the Bexley United Group, will door knock and help form support networks for those who might feel isolated and frightened about their future because the land is red-zoned. As guest speaker --- organised before the land announcements --- I described engineering criteria applied to the red zone. http://labour.org.nz/news/speech-a-red-letter-day It’s clear Bexley has ticked all the wrong boxes and represents the perfect storm. Lateral spreading, multiple experiences of liquefaction, a high water table and widespread sinking of houses within a designated flood management area in accordance with the City Plan means major challenges ahead. To repair Bexley land for rebuilding would mean removing all the houses, increasing land levels (up to 3 metres), putting in perimeter treatment to prevent the lateral movement of land (this would require significantly more stone columns than proposed last time due to extra fill required) and then restoring all infrastructure –- streets, footpaths, channel & kerbing, parks, water & wastewater, electricity & telecommunications, and the houses. This would take years. I criticised the Government’s handling of the announcement –- leaving more questions than answers. If it had done as colleagues and I suggested, we could have worked through all the land issues before being faced with an offer that is not well understood outside those of us who it applies to. The Government needs to front up and say it hasn’t been able to preserve equity and that some people are actually in quite a dire situation compared to what they would be if we could repair/rebuild on existing land. People at the AGM didn’t appreciate being treated as ungrateful as a result of spin rather than cold, hard facts. People have been told they cannot stay on their land, and their insurer is telling them they can have the cost of the repairs on their house and nothing more. The use of the rateable value of property may be convenient but produces many inequities -– a woman with nothing but a debt to the bank (negative equity); a guy with a 30m2 larger section than his neighbour and $80K lower RV for land; retired couples who cannot take on a mortgage. The truth is nobody will be better off as a result of this disaster, and no one in Bexley asks to be preferred over others. We just ask for fairness --- a place to rebuild our homes and lives.
BRENDON BURNS: Communities in Christchurch are doing it for themselves. Last night I attended a meeting of residents in the Peterborough St area of the inner city. More than 50 people crammed into the home of eminent landscape architect Di Lucas who with Jane Quigley hosted the meeting. Di is the person who brought to light the 'Black Map' showing the waterways that existed (and were sometimes built over) when Christchurch was settled. The concept being discussed last night was creating a Peterborough village --- low-rise, moderate-density sustainable housing and businesses. There are certainly some challenges as not much of current housing stock has survived the quakes without severe damage, but the mood and size of last night's gathering provides some positive answers to on-line polls suggesting widespread wishes to abandon Christchurch. Similarly, it was great to attend a community meeting at Rugby Park in St Albans where the Canterbury Rugby Union briefed the community about plans to hold Ranfurly Shield games at the park. AMI stadium can’t be used at present, of course, although it is being stated that it is being repaired. The CRU had put a flier around and there has been a positive response, despite the obvious parking disruption. Five games will be played, starting July 2 against North Otago
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