Posts by Hebe
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Capture: Two Tales of a City, in reply to Sacha,
I'm not following your viewpoint....do you mean central govt could have restored democracy in Christchurch? That would be correct, but the CCC screwed up after the September 2010 quake: they did not understand what the implications of that quake series was for Christchurch city, which was well-documented to have many, many buildings and much land around the city that would be at risk in a big earthquake. Instead there was an insistence on business as usual, an overall policy direction that ensured many of the council employees on the ground were hamstrung in their efforts.
In short, the government had to act after February 22, 2011; the city as whole was on the brink of infrastructure collapse, and the CCC -- like probably almost every local government body in the country facing those circumstances -- did not have the resources over the short and medium term.
Where it was wrong -- and still is -- is the amount of uncontestable power resting with Cera and the Minister after the rescue stage and into the still-embryonic recovery stage. We've barely started; 30 years for the city to be whole again is what I'm hearing. How long before we get a real say in planning our city? Or has democracy vanished forever in Christchurch?
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I guess, having done a Google street view (which still shows the old city whereas the satellite map has been updated) that the phoenix palm is front of the Excelsior. The wall is the side of the Excelsior (you can just see the containers four or five high behind it in Manchester St. I can think of four significant periods of my life that I spent much time within 50 metres of that spot in different buildings. It's all there in my head and street view never lies, does it?
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Capture: Great Southern Land, in reply to Lilith __,
The sense of wrongness, nothing being as it should be.
Lilith you have found the words I have been looking for -- for a year or so -- to describe that feeling.
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I like that he found the uplifting (the angels on top of the Basilica ruins still there; walking in the sun by the river and rotunda) among the carnage. I still cannot figure out where that phoenix palm is/was. All beautifully shot, I agree.
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The Bats video (apologies if it has been posted before ). I thought I was over the sad but this is so good. It captures the feeling like nothing else I have seen.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10869529
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Capture: Great Southern Land, in reply to Kebabette,
And a fine woolly jumper for me. I wish I had bought the green teapot....
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Capture: Two Tales of a City, in reply to Joe Wylie,
Yes exactly. That's why it was so good to see the pallet people on Friday evening: alt Christchurch is regrouping I feel.
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Capture: Two Tales of a City, in reply to Gudrun Gisela,
Gudrun, my understanding is that foreign investors are mostly not interested in investing or reinvesting in the CBD for quite a few more years. The driver behind the Govt thinking seems to be the collapsing South island tourism industry; that the mega convention centre will pump through the high-spending visitors (ie international convention-goers) to the rest of the South Island while we cream the corporate bill-payers for the conventions.
This, to my mind, ignores the strangulation of most Western economies of the GFC, and eventually the increased costs of travel due to rising energy prices.
It is easy in Christchurch to forget that the rest of NZ and much of the world is in economic crisis: 7.5% annual growth here now, and the "rebuild" hasn't cranked up yet. Wellington 2.2% pa; Auckland under 4%.
If it weren't for the $30billion insurance money (all but $5b coming from foreign reinsurers) the NZ economy would be tanking.
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Capture: Two Tales of a City, in reply to Sacha,
True that things like making local swimming pools free for children across the region
That's happening? Wonderful idea; hope children includes teenagers.
Re the big projects: you could be right. My view is that the civic facilties and amentities have taken 150 years to accrue; things don't have to be done big striaght away. I would like to see a plan for the next 30 years so the city can be rebuilt strategically and thoughtfully. with co-operation across all sectors. Now I will return to the kitchen, being a little people with no idea of how to run a city.
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Capture: Great Southern Land, in reply to Lilith __,
Thanks Lilith. Better now. I didn't want to whine at the time else I wouldn't have stopped ;-) Looks like you all had a fine and productive time.
We stopped by the Pallet Street market on the way home. Mr D was there with his wares (and I will hold him responsible for the moral degeneration of my angels from now on as their father loaded up with Viz). It was really very good: a cool spot, a very warm and sunny early evening, good stalls in the main (not tat, not poncey, just right) and people dropping in for browsing and socialising. Queen Victoria was watching over it from her plinth in Vic Square.
The Square was originally the market square for colonial Christchurch, and Maori used the area before that, so this evening seemed a satisfying completion of an historic circle of burghers winding down at the end of another week in a pioneer town.