Posts by Leigh Russell
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Hello Ian, yes, how dramatic!!! Haven't seen any live footage yet, but look forward to it. This site banner is the most exciting I've come across in terms of eruption footage, and although it's used on an Auckland site I don't think the imagery is of NZ volcanoes.
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It would be a matter of supreme irony if the building owned and occupied by Alice's in Videoland was demolished: it was one of the few buildings to survive the earthquakes in fine good style, having been 'over-engineered' in the wake of the Napier earthquake of 1931. The surrounding buildings suffered severe damage as you can see from photographs included in my article "Alice in Videoland stands strong amidst the ruins ~ High Street, not so good". Since that photograph was taken in March new construction has begun in the adjacent block between Tuam and St Asaph and Manchester Steets. I'm guessing that these are the new constructions that are being stopped and will be demolished as mentioned in my recent article. Does anyone have any more information about this?
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
Where’s the cheap-rent neighbourhood where creativity can thrive? Don’t tell me, in a special newly built area with an eruv around it and “Creativity Quarter” signage.
Look for the Innovation precinct on The Plan of The Blueprint! I'm not joking! I don't know what to think about that notion, and felt a cold sense of doom in noticing that Alice's in Videoland already occupies part of that area. It's worth looking at the actual map to see exactly where these precincts are expected to end up and what other owners and users can be expected to get pushed out and their buildings pushed over... I'm still in disbelief and am appalled about this aspect of planning, so-called. I find it surreal. I mean, this is New Zealand, right? Maybe it's just a nightmare and I'll wake up. Maybe we will all wake up. I think a big fuss needs to be made about the absence of democratic process here.
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Russell Brown, in reply to Leigh Russell, About 22 hours ago
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I had fun explaining New Zealand’s geological hazards to my friend’s British partner yesterday. His eyes widened as we went through Auckland’s volcanic risks – “and then of course there’s Taupo. It’s really game over for New Zealand if that blows.”
Hi Russell, of course England has its own earthquake risks about which the English are likely to be more complacent than even we have been about ours! But at least they are Most Unlikely to have eruptions of the volcanic variety!! Taupo is indeed something quite out of the ordinary!
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Lilith __,
Well put, Lilith, I fully agree.
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Russell Brown,
An Auckland volcanic eruption is basically everyone in the region GTFO, with, hopefully, a few weeks’ notice. From Auckland Uni’s geology department:
Shock waves from an eruption will break windows and flatten buildings, fiery fountains of lava will set structures and trees ablaze, and base surges – a ground-hugging, deadly mixture of steam and solid particles – will envelop everything within a 5km radius. All that on Day One.
The council’s hazards page also predicts related earthquakes and tsunami. There’s an 8% chance of an eruption taking place in anyone’s (80 year) lifespan. Which sounds way too fucking likely for comfort.
Hi Russell, I've come to this discussion rather late in the piece. I love these descriptions of drama in the landscape juxtaposed with the day-to-day reality of Auckland's hum of increasing development and the enjoy-as-you-go attitude of the locals! It conjures up notions of an adventure lifestyle lived to the max - but a bit too hot for me! I lived in Auckland for many years and the instability of the land was one factor in my decision to move back to the South Island! After the quake of Sept 2010 I wrote my own article about the likelihood of natural disasters throughout New Zealand and found some dramatic stuff: New Zealand ~ land of earthquakes and volcanoes. Our lovely land has been produced by multiple natural cataclysms. I think our attitude to buildings could change to embrace that more realistically.
Buildings could and should be about the people who use them. It's about people - that's why they are there. It seems obvious when stated like that but in my view it's a point that is easily lost sight of. In the present situation in Christchurch people gotta have somewhere safe and snug to live, so I say that while plans for the CBD are interesting in their way, the primary importance of the Christchurch housing situation, which for many is in extreme crisis mode, has been passed over. The government has chosen to take a very 'let the market decide' attitude which I consider a matter of gross negligence. They have much greater power to intervene than ruffling the feathers of insurers on account of their slowness. Non-urgent repairs to residential buildings which mean that large numbers of residents are competing with those whose homes have been ruined could have been avoided, etc, etc.
It has been suggested above that the housing situation is a red herring in relation to the planned CBD. I disagree. The central city belongs to the people of Christchurch, and many of these people are being treated very badly indeed, so their annoyance is to be expected.
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I'm very concerned about the absence of the democratic process in the development of these plans. Certainly submissions have been taken into consideration initially, but the forthcoming process seems to require nil involvement with the Christchurch constituency, an old-fashioned term, that. New Zealand is not a corporation, it's a democratic society. I've developed on this theme and made some other points about the process of implementing "visions" in my article Christchurch's planned CBD ~ Rushleigh's response
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All these watery images remind me of a photo story I have about the morning we went down to the beach after a very chilly and snowy night. The swell out in the open sea was really moving, but I didn't check the web for a reading before we went down there, an error I will not repeat - I had a bad fright, but did get some good photographs... The full story is here:
Watery safety ~ check those swells and surges! -
Capture: Ice Rink Luck, in reply to Lilith __,
And Lilith, what a bee-utiful beach and poem that is... so blown away, grey and sea-misty.
Amazing photos on this thread, everyone, I forgot to subscribe to it so have been missing seeing them being published!
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Capture: Ice Rink Luck, in reply to Michael Lakeman,
Hi Michael, I totally concur with Chris above! Brilliant!!!
