Hard News: In the red zone
73 Responses
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Lilith __, in reply to
I was speaking broadly. They serve the people of New Zealand.
In that case I return to pointing and laughing.
I understand you think this is ridiculous. But in post-quake, post-democracy Chch, it’s really not funny.
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nzlemming, in reply to
I understand you think this is ridiculous. But in post-quake, post-democracy Chch, it’s really not funny.
One laughs in order not to cry, Lilith. We are all Christchurch now, as far as post-democracy goes. You were the pilot site.
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Lilith __, in reply to
One laughs in order not to cry, Lilith
OK. With you on that.
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Lilith __, in reply to
I can understand that. I realised a diversion had taken me around the place where David and Jen’s place used to be and thought about going back, but I figured it would make me sad looking at the empty space.
As I noted, most of my Christchurch friends don’t go there either.
I think initially I didn't go out of sensitivity for the people still trying to live there. And now the idea of visiting the wasteland just seems too sad. Too much, "This could have been my neighbourhood, could have been me."
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Chris H, in reply to
I do remember them, every day. I remember that they have the opportunity to repair or rebuild and live in their badly damaged homes, while we are denied the privilege of living in our undamaged home because the government decided to ring zone the area and call it the red zone. And lest it sounds as if I begrudge them their good fortune, I do not. There are some lovely areas in Christchurch and I am grateful that, although some are indeed badly damaged, they have been allowed to survive. I'm also grateful for Justice Panckhurst, who said that the use and enjoyment of one's home was a basic human right and the creation of the red zone was an interference of that right. I suspect his judgment will be overturned, but so nice to hear it in the meantime. Finally I do hope things go well for your friends "west of Hagley".
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Hebe, in reply to
One laughs in order not to cry, Lilith. We are all Christchurch now, as far as post-democracy goes. You were the pilot site.
“Christchurch: Done Over and Dusted’ to replace the Garden City slogan?
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nzlemming, in reply to
“Christchurch: Done Over and Dusted’ to replace the Garden City slogan?
I think Gerry has in mind: "Christchurch: yo mah li'l puppy dawg now!"
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Hebe, in reply to
I think Gerry has in mind: “Christchurch: yo mah li’l puppy dawg now!”
Fits with the pick-up truck-driving man ambience….which leads me to…
Maybe it should be in the other thread... surely it must be Shane Jones' campaign song. -
Your first River Rd photo is next to our house, demolished 11 months ago. The last neighbors in the block left a few weeks ago, after months of night time prowlers and looters, and the fear of arson. We were lucky being zapped by the first quake, we were sorted and moved before it all turned to custard. What does Brownlee plan to do with the zone? A plan would be nice.
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I see Red Zoning as a positive response in broad terms to the Earth Quakes and wonder if Sea Level rise should not be factored into the rebuild? It has been mentioned before and if we're going to address it, now is the time to do so.
Raw sewage is regularly making its way into the Avon etc. Don't let the kids play in puddles in Christchurch.
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From the photos you can see how the nefariously minded think nothing of recycling hot water cylinders.
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Hebe, in reply to
Sea level rise is taken accout of in the CCC’s flood management area and its fringe which takes in the 200-year flood risk. I will post a link when I have time to dig it up: it’s a huge issue with all sorts of repercussions re ongoing insurance, repairs, rebuilds, resale, mortgages. The issue is a ticking timebomb that is not understood by most of the populace (or real estate agents), and very well understood by insurers and the CCC.
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Just thinking, in reply to
That would be interesting. I'm assuming the allowing of parts of South Shore etc to go Green is a hospital pass by Brownlee as infrastructure won't necessarily be repaired.
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Richard Grevers, in reply to
making massive decisions like whether to repair the Town Hall
And most of the people who used to use the James Hay Theatre (as technicians and performers) say that it shouldn't be repaired as it was a pig of a place to work. It was the one Chch theatre I never really worked in, but I heard gripes all the time.
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Richard Grevers, in reply to
I see Red Zoning as a positive response in broad terms to the Earth Quakes and wonder if Sea Level rise should not be factored into the rebuild? It has been mentioned before and if we’re going to address it, now is the time to do so.
Back in the 1980s I saw (while working for the then Riccarton Borough) the "Classified Info" map of 1m sea level rise inundation of Chch. With the exception of the Ferrymead area, it seems to match the main Red Zone pretty closely.
The end of the Brighton Spit has moved hundreds of metres over the 150 years humans have been photographing it. There are houses built on "land" which was sea-bed as recently as 1970. Basically, development should never have been allowed on the last km or two. I think the Council had an out by a special clause that regarded all buildings there as "relocatable".
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Hebe, in reply to
Here's the council link, which will give you other links to get an understanding of what they have done:
http://www.ccc.govt.nz/thecouncil/newsmedia/mediareleases/2012/201210102.aspxThe Cera map of the flood zones:
http://maps.cera.govt.nz/arcgis/rest/services/CERA/CERA_CCC_Flood_Data/MapServerHere's the very good analysis from John McCrone in The Press: http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/8744573/Quake-hit-residents-now-face-flood-risk
An interesting thing happened with all that: EQC and insurers were given access to the flood info website in August last year, near three months before property owners could check their own property's details and updated requirements for repairs. At that time and before, Fletchers/EQR were forging ahead with EQC under-cap repairs in flood-zone and neighbouring areas, including major foundation repair jobs. In my area, right near the Heathcote River, the houses were being ticked off methodically.
So people were agreeing to have their houses repaired, including the foundations, under the old rules. If they had been repaired a year later, houses with more than 20 per cent of foundation damage (triggering the need for a building permit to be issued by the council) would have had to be raised by anything up to a metre to comply with the new flood zones.
Raising a house is expensive, which would in many cases push total repairs over the EQC $100k +gst cap and into the insurance companies' arms. So it was, coincidentally, a very good thing for insurers to have Fletchers/EQR sorting out all those repairs quickly.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/7493996/Public-must-wait-for-new-flood-data
In the article above, when The Press asked the council planning people some questions about the flood zones in August, the reply was from the council chief legal officer Peter Mitchell; that is very unusual for a small-time media enquiry.
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Hebe, in reply to
The end of the Brighton Spit has moved hundreds of metres over the 150 years humans have been photographing it. There are houses built on “land” which was sea-bed as recently as 1970. Basically, development should never have been allowed on the last km or two.
So Mermaid Place is aptly named?
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There’s a really nice initiative to recycle every part of a red-zoned house in Brighton. Press article:
A New Brighton bungalow destined for demolition and landfilling has been saved by a community group that will turn the entire building - all of the timber and electrical wire, all of the plaster and lathe, all of the concrete foundation, everything - into art, furniture and sleepouts or small offices.
The point is "turning these materials, which are largely treated as redundant and disposable, into items (that are) purposeful, loveable and irreplaceable," writes Whole House Reuse leader Juliet Arnott.
From here .
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
wow an urban photographers dream and if it could be made safe a wonderful movie set!
Or the background for a TV series "Life in the Red Zone" or "Big Brother - Christchurch Red Zone" (what a neat way of getting all those stories out in the open without letting Campbell get all the kudos)
It even has a "Sci Fi" feel to the name and just think of the local tumble-weed industry and we already have the Martin Jetpack for those scenes where Big Brother Gerry chases out the "Undesirable/non-Developer" types back into their bunkers and shells them indiscriminately whilst blaming it all on "Nine years of misrule by Labour and the Greens"
And then we hear him cry "Oh Noes, its Lianne the Red and her hideously deformed cousin Ian' as he retreats to the pleasure complex in the central no flies on me zone. -
Lilith __, in reply to
“Oh Noes, its Lianne the Red and her hideously deformed cousin Ian’
As jokes go, this one is really not funny. I wish you'd show some respect for the rest of us here.
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
As jokes go, this one is really not funny. I wish you’d show some respect for the rest of us here.
I was not joking and I fail to see where you get the idea that I have little or no respect for "the rest of us" as you put it.
What you consider as some lame joke at the expense of others was nothing more than reductio ad absurdum following Tristan's earlier post regarding the filmic qualities of the Christchurch landscape. I was not joking when I suggested a reality show, more people watch "Reality TV" than Parliament or even the News, it would be a great way of letting the people of New Zealand know what is going on in Christchurch and have them cheering for the underdog rather than the couple who made a nice bathroom overnight or whatever, however absurd it may seem.
If Ian took offence to my imagining what Gerry Brownlee might say in such a scenario then I would expect him to be the one to complain, not some self appointed expert on humour who fails to see that attacking the messenger is not in the slightest bit helpful at best and hurtful at worst.
If you don't understand what my meaning is you could ask instead of jumping to ill informed conclusions and posting nasty little accusations. -
A very nice piece on cycle touring in Chch .
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One year on (and I suspect in another 20) these continue to move.
Is it true that we have nothing to crow about besides an oblique and threatening reference to an advertorial in the Press? The world waits ...
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