Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 85
new-zealand-labour-party
Mon Aug 01 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 85
Monday, 1 August 2011, 11:22 am
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
Christchurch
LABOUR MPs
1 August 2011 MEDIA STATEMENT
Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 85
The Labour Party’s Christchurch electorate MPs, 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’ve had good feedback from the CERA housing expo held over the weekend. It appears it was well attended and people appreciated all the key stakeholders being in one place to discuss their relocation needs. However, a very sound and telling comment from Kevin Campbell, the spokesperson for the Community Law Centre, advised residents not to sign any contract with insurers or the Government until they had had independent legal advice on their particular position. I agree with Mr Campbell, which is why for months my colleagues and I have pressed Mr Brownlee to provide no-cost or low-cost access to legal services for people considering their contractual position We will continue to push this issue. I want to emphasise that people in the red zone will need independent legal advice not only to consider offers from the Government and insurers, but also to assist with the conveyancing that will be required as a part of the sale and purchase of their property. The Government needs to provide legal assistance here as many in the red zone have lost jobs as well as houses and will not have the $1000 dollars required to kick off conveyancing. This access to legal support or monetary assistance must also extend beyond the red zone. While those outside the red zone might not need to move from their property, they will be involved in extensive repair and rebuild efforts and should have independent legal advice available. A key issue that will hold up the recovery of our city is the stalled confidence of residents in concluding sale and purchase agreements or insurance claims People need to know they have someone in their corner to verify the deal. In Australia legal aid was provided to people affected by bush fires and flooding to ensure individuals were supported and confident of policies. We will continue to push for this same recognition.
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RUTH DYSON: Friday night’s Lyttelton Festival of Lights was just brilliant - even the weather was great until about 9pm when the southerly came through. The festival was a good reflection of a strong community hard hit by the quakes but determined to move forward. The night included a wonderful parade of masked adults and children (and animals!), with people walking down the hill on stilts - quite a feat! Big congratulations to the organising group for an exceptional spirit lifting event. I opened the AGM of DeafBlind NZ on Saturday morning and was so pleased to hear that the President, Merv Cox and the Executive had deliberately chosen to have their gathering in Christchurch as a demonstration of support for our city and I wanted to express my personal thanks for their gesture. There were people from Auckland to Invercargill present and it was quite moving to have their support in this practical way. Saturday night was exhausting with the ice hockey (Canada vs USA) and then the rugby (ABs vs Springboks). The highlight on Sunday was the opening of the gapfiller on the Albion site in Lyttelton - the Lyttelton Petanque Club, which celebrated with a shared lunch, excellent music, donations of plants to decorate the area - and of course, lots of Petanque games. Again, a small but determined group of people organised this, with the backing of the local community - and what a positive difference it has made to the site.
LIANNE DALZIEL: I attended the Housing Expo that CERA arranged for the weekend and saw a lot of my constituents there. The feedback I received from those out east was mixed. Most thought that it was too soon and hope that there will be more seminars organised closer to home once all of the information is known. For others, it just reinforced how unaffordable the unimproved sections are in the new developments. The expo did give people the opportunity to start thinking about the next steps they will be able to take and many considered that a plus. I did ask myself why CERA has suddenly changed all of its marketing material to blue - away from the government green it was announced with, and away from the red and black that would pronounce CERA a Canterbury government department through and through. The subtle political message is that this is National’s recovery strategy not Canterbury's recovery – which is disappointing. This tactic is the complete opposite to what I found at the Queensland Reconstruction Authority at the end of last week. Major General Mick Slater exudes the qualities of leadership required to respond to the challenges faced by their state following the series of floods that affected every one of the 73 local authorities in the state. He assured me that there were no politics involved - as a standalone organisation with a board, there is an arm’s length relationship with the Minister who is the State Premier. I was enormously impressed with their planning and their timeline. We could do well to invite some of their team to talk about Operation Queenslander which is following international best practice. We could sure do with some of that instead of the government controlled spin we are getting.
BRENDON BURNS: On Friday I opened Christchurch’s first Z service station– formerly Shell, and now New Zealand owned, including a big stake from the Labour-initiated Cullen fund. The Marshland Rd station opposite the Palms is the first to open in the South Island and needed major quake (as well as cosmetic) overhaul. The opening was a welcome signal of commerce and development steaming ahead. On Friday night, I got a call from a constituent who last week was frustrated about nearly a month’s delay on work starting at the demolition of Clarendon Towers. Last Wednesday, they started work. On Friday at 4pm, the workers were called in and told they were sacked without explanation. CERA says it’s not their decision but that of the contractors, Hawkins. I think the workers deserve better. I was unable to attend the launch of the proposal for a temporary replacement of the Christ Church Cathedral from Japanese architect Shigeru Ban yesterday but it’s certainly got people talking. It would be built with locally produced cardboard tubes erected in an A-shape, with shipping containers used as foundations. If constructed, it would cost $4 million and could seat 700 people for church, community and arts events. Christ Church Cathedral Dean Peter Beck hopes it could be completed by February 22 next year. I did attend the first day of CERA’s My Home expo. It was jam-packed. There were plenty of banks, real estate agents, housing companies and sub-divisions for displaced homeowners to talk to. Sections were generally starting at around $200,000 and packages a bit under twice that, although one bach like construction said it could go up for $150,000. As my colleagues have said, concerns were raised about the affordability of new homes and sections given the prices are so far above the equity are likely to realise from the red zone.
ENDS
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