Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 70

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Tue Jul 05 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 70

Tuesday, 5 July 2011, 11:55 am
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party

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: Waimakariri is patiently waiting for more detail from the Government on two crucial issues. The first is the extent of the Government's commitment to helping out local councils who no longer have any insurance for anything except fire, and perhaps not even that in some cases. Bill English has said the Government won't leave councils in the lurch, but what exactly does that mean? It would also be helpful if the Government put some flesh on the bones of the financial deal it is offering residents. Residents are trying hard to look at the offer positively, but they need to know the details before they can decide what their future holds for them. In many cases it is anything but rosy, despite John Key promising no one would be worse off. Tonight there is a major function to recognise the contribution of Fire Service personnel following the quakes. This function is more than appropriate. Professionals and volunteers, often quake victims themselves in various ways, have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Last night I had the pleasure of attending a United States Embassy Fourth of July ceremony in Christchurch, at which the Embassy honoured seven Cantabrians for exemplary service and courage. While the Embassy thanked Cantabrians for looking after the large number of Americans in town on February 22 attending the Partnership Forum, Canterbury has much to thank the United States for as well. Massive donations have come from Americans both in the United States and living here, and American personnel provided much-needed assistance for local rescue and recovery services. It was also psychologically important for Cantabrians that the Fourth of July ceremony was held in our city.

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RUTH DYSON: The resilience of our teachers never ceases to amaze me. During our series of significant earthquakes, they have put their own families and homes to one side, and ensured that all our children are safe. Now they are facing significant uncertainty, with a guarantee of their school staffing and funding only in place until the end of this year. After all they have been through, it seems quite unfair that they will have to end the year with redundancies. The only thing clear about our population in various suburbs is uncertainty --- about when families will move back home. This is dependent on the timing of zoning, insurance payments, rebuilding/repair consents and work timeframes --- all things totally outside the control of the schools. The Ministry of Education has been giving exceptional support to our schools, but I do think that the Minister has missed an opportunity to show our teachers just how valued and valuable they are. Elsewhere in the education sector, early childhood education centres have not even had the security of funding until the end of the year which the compulsory sector has received. Many are in very precarious situations, with families who have just up and left, and little indication about if or when they might return. Housing pressures in the rental market are significant, and if there are empty houses, they may well be rented by people with children who might enrol in the local centres. But again, there are many factors at play, all outside the ability of the centres to influence. The demolition of our libraries has raised a lot of concern about if and when there will be replacements. Libraries are a key part of a community and need to be high on the priority list for restoration. The council's inability to get reinsurance and the supposed lack of funding available for new facilities means that these very valuable assets could be lost to future generations, and that would be tragic.

LIANNE DALZIEL: I attended two events last night. The first was the celebration of Independence Day hosted by the American Ambassador who paid tribute to the RNZAF, police, VIP drivers and civilians who played a role in looking after the US delegation that had been meeting in Christchurch on the day It was moving to see the images of the day played on the screen as certificates were presented to those who went beyond the call of duty. I then presented my own Parliamentary Certificates of Merit for Outstanding Community Service to the people at Grace Vineyard, New Brighton Police and Civil Defence who helped provide food to 10,000 people a day in the aftermath of 22 February. We all spoke of the privilege we felt to serve our community in this way. One of the volunteers said it was the worst of times that brought out the best in people. I attended the Aranui Hub this morning which shows the awe-inspiring strength of a community that is so well-connected and integrated. The fortnightly meeting enables information to be shared so everyone knows who is doing what. I have raised concerns about some of the bus routes which cannot be used due to road damage and suggested that we request shuttle services to join people up with the re-directed services.

BRENDON BURNS: Members of the Avon Loop community gathered last night for a meeting with CERA boss Roger Sutton. Much of the Loop is orange-zoned and residents are naturally anxious to know time-frames for learning its fate. Some residents are hoping it will become red so they can get an exit package and leave, but many are hoping it will become green, even though that will almost inevitably mean major remediation work as the Loop adjoins the Avon River. Roger Sutton indicated that this is likely to mean taking homes off while the land is repaired. Residents were keen to know if the Loop might be an early area for remediation, given its historic inner city nature. The response was that he wants to release orange zones as the geo-technical decisions are made, followed by localised explanations by the engineers, rather than one grand announcement. But like any issues, this is not subject to final clarity; not only is CERA having to work through these details, there are Cabinet processes as well. There were some tense moments around the wish of one resident to have the Government take a stand against insurance companies and assist beleaguered homeowners who feel they are not being given justice. Roger Sutton said the Government could win that battle but it would risk losing a war with insurers and reinsurers. He said people need to look to getting good legal advice on insurance issues through mechanisms such as the CANCern group. It must be noted that for many months Labour has been saying the Government should fund a service where people can get advice and support with insurance issues. Earlier, at last night's IConIC meeting of inner city building owners and heritage supporters, there was a somewhat gloomy mood. While one or two pockets of progress can be seen such as with CERA over demolition processes in the High St precinct, the lack of any source of capital for rebuilding or restoration work remains the key risk to our CBD's future. A CERA official reported to a meeting yesterday that there is now one laden truck leaving the inner city every minute for 8 hours a day. While the rubble is being removed at an incredible rate, there are no accompanying signals of where funding will come to retain those viable buildings that remain, let alone build any new ones.

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