Southerly by David Haywood

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Southerly: Refugee Status

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  • Islander,

    @Kyle - I think Bob got the earthquake-feeling down really well!

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Judi Lapsley Miller,

    Hey Bob! How's Ford Vicky?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 106 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    I agree, Bob, but who is going to pay for it ? And where do we park the trailer?

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Kris V,

    bummer.... no internet access for 3 days while shifting meant I missed the change in venue.
    never fear, I had a drink for y'all at home later that evening :D

    so now I'm another year older and rather suddenly living in a random suburb with a distinct lack of vowels. It's.... interesting.... that's all I'm saying until next time we meet with glass in hand.

    Shakeytown • Since Nov 2008 • 61 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    bummer.... no internet access for 3 days while shifting meant I missed the change in venue.

    Oh, sorry Kris. If it's any consolation, we had a lovely time. Also, some people are very good at keeping their mouths shut, and when I arrived at the Dux, it was to the sight of Secret MeganWegan, secretly smuggled from Wellington from the weekend.

    It was a very, very long day. But hugely appreciated.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    bummer.... no internet access for 3 days while shifting meant I missed the change in venue.
    never fear, I had a drink for y'all at home later that evening :D

    More or less my circumstances & sentiments.

    . . . suddenly living in a random suburb . . .

    You too? Suddenly Riccarton is inner-city. It's like some kind of afterlife out here - or Mangere Bridge in 1997. Apparently the previous occupant ran a knocking-shop on these premises, and was evicted for her enterprise. Which meant I got to move in (after a repaint, natch). It's an ill wind & all.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Pros and cons...

    Apparently the previous occupant ran a knocking-shop on these premises, and was evicted for her enterprise.

    I read about that in the paper...
    be careful who ya open the door to!

    Do you get to repair back to your old riparian idyll if it is repaired?

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    I read about that in the paper...

    Me too, apparently it's the very one. With all of this damage to our heritage a bit of freshly-minted history won't go amiss. When the bloke next door saw the Somali guy turn up to hook up my broadband & phone he thought for a moment that she might be back and turning her old tricks.

    Do you get to repair back to your old riparian idyll if it is repaired?

    Doesn't look like it Ian, thanks for your concern. The degree of muntedness there is greater than was first thought, and will take longer to ascertain than I'm able to wait around for. If you're in the area you can see the boarded-up windows, and maybe even my evil twin loading the dregs of the garden onto her scooter.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Kris V,

    You too? Suddenly Riccarton is inner-city. It's like some kind of afterlife out here - or Mangere Bridge in 1997. Apparently the previous occupant ran a knocking-shop on these premises, and was evicted for her enterprise. Which meant I got to move in (after a repaint, natch). It's an ill wind & all.

    lol you too? a friend moved into a new place recently that also used to be a knocking shop, although I think that one was legal. He's had a few blokes turn up looking for the previous occupants.

    and yeah... the unexpected change in suburb will take some getting used to. it's weird over here. (no offense to any uberlocals)

    Shakeytown • Since Nov 2008 • 61 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    and yeah... the unexpected change in suburb will take some getting used to. it's weird over here.

    surely in that vowel-less suburb it would be wyrd... unless you meant Styx?
    ;- )
    Good luck with the process ahead, though...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • David Haywood,

    Yes, best of luck, Joe and Kris V -- very sorry not to see you on Saturday.

    Oh, and I'm guessing Bob's mother or grandmother signed him up to PA -- it's a complete surprise to me!

    Have just been to a meeting here (Avonside) where some residents were rather heated-up over the (lack of) communication from the council.

    Everyone knows that the council is doing their best, but it is *really* frustrating, e.g. neighbours on both sides of me are able to use the sewerage system, but we're still not allowed to (despite the fact that we had no problems with it during the few days when we were able to use it).

    I've been unable to ascertain whether this is just a bureaucratic error or whether we're somehow on a different sewerage circuit from our neighbours. It would be quite annoying if we've spent weeks needlessly living like inhabitants of the third-world.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    David's meeting has been written up here and here.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    David's meeting has been written up here and here.

    Hey, all fuking horrible for you guys I'm sure. Just watching it on TV3 news.Did anyone notice that guy (council, sewerage,Civil defence?) was just crying as he tried to address the residents. I imagine he has been working since day 1.He looked exasperated.He really needs a cup of tea and a lie down. ( I know it's probably impossible for Avonside with no water) I'd be showing up to ask Bob Parker about the need for water etc. I now feel really sorry for that man. Ring the Council demand answers from Bob Parker Agent Orange. Jus' sayin'.
    I'll get my coat.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    It would be quite annoying if we've spent weeks needlessly living like inhabitants of the third-world.

    I could make a comment you know. About the status of Chch. You are lucky I was born there.

    But seriously, I do think 2 weeks is a wee bit short to think that the council could have all your services fixed by now. Someone has to be first and someone has to be last. What can I say. One day it will be us. All I hope is that we can handle it somewhere near you guys.

    And yes, I know it was over communication. But instant and up to date databases do not exist. And I suspect that there are a few houses like David's that have the next door neighbours working but not theirs. How many "communications" is enough to say "The water is not on yet".

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    By the way youse in ChCh.

    Rolleston was right on top of the big one. Given that it is - practically speaking - Chch's newest "suburb", what was the damage like?

    Have heard few details which MAY suggest that all was built with the latest EQ codes and have managed to survive the damn thing.

    Comments? Info? Stories?

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    @ Ross

    I could make a comment you know. About the status of Chch. You are lucky I was born there.

    did you, by any chance, go to South Intermediate school?

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Jen Hay,

    @Ross, I agree that two weeks is too short to expect that the council could deal with all the broken services.

    It wouldn't be too difficult for them to make a call in terms of habitability though. The combination of silt & sewerage appearing in people's properties, and their inability to easily wash themselves, their dishes, etc isn't exactly healthy. Liveable for a few days, perhaps, but not indefinitely. If the council would declare these houses temporarily unhabitable, then this would oblige people's insurance to cover alternative accommodation. If the council won't make this call, the insurance companies don't have to do anything.

    Thankfully I'm married to a clever engineer, so at our place we are able to happily shower and wash, and simultaneously water the trees in the bush at the back of our garden!

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 43 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    @Ian: South Intermediate. Funny. No. But I do have family connections there. My Murphy Mum and her sister were Dux there in the........30/40s!! I spent first 6 months of school at Hornby before movig to Little River.

    @Jen: Does he sing with an American accent? That is an interesting issue about the council needing to say houses are uninhabitable (not habitable?) before insurance will cough. I wonder who has whose ear on THAT one.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    If the council would declare these houses temporarily unhabitable, then this would oblige people's insurance to cover alternative accommodation.

    Council ordered all of their own rental tenants out of Avonside two weeks ago today. It was done with only a couple of hours notice, citing the safety of the tenants as the main concern. They've been gradually rehoused since in existing Council rental stock as it becomes available. While some units were badly damaged, others were pretty unscathed, and lack water and/or sewage.

    Housing NZ, which has rather a lot of properties in Avonside, seems to only now be taking a detailed interest in the situation of its tenants. Would they, like any other property owner, be legally bound by a council declaration on habitability, or do they enjoy some special exemption?

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Ask Brownlee - he's in charge isn't he?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    waterworks

    Did anyone notice that guy (council, sewerage, Civil defence?) was just crying as he tried to address the residents.

    That was Mark Christison, City Water and Waste Unit Manager, and he and his team are well stretched, but to be applauded for their Herculean efforts in general.

    a confederacy of dunces...
    CCC CEO Tony Marryatt should have been at that meeting as he doesn't seem to be doing anything else useful - apart from staying in the background so his "boy" Bob can hog the limelight... a bit different to his Hamilton days maybe, as ex-Hamilton Mayor David Braithwaite recounts in his book Making a Stand

    In the book, publicised as "200 damning pages of life as city mayor", Mr Braithwaite also said that Mr Marryatt "never lost an opportunity to tell me how powerful and important he was".
    "He was, he said, the best chief executive officer in New Zealand. Clearly in Tony Marryatt's view, he was the city's king-maker and infinitely more important than people who had merely been elected to their positions by the public. Council employees were at his direction, so why not the mayor and council as well?"

    I'd also like to see Marryatt trying this on Jim Anderton, when Jim is elected:

    Braithwaite wrote: "I was elected on a Saturday and on the following day I was visited by Tony Marryatt at my home.
    "He presented me with a hand-written paper on which he outlined who should hold positions of responsibility on the incoming council, who the deputy mayor should be and that councillor Dave Macpherson should hold no positions of responsibility at all."

    Coincidentally ex-CCC CEO Lesley McTurk is the head of Housing NZ which is doing a pretty appalling job on behalf of their Avonside tenants - maybe there will be more whistleblowing from HNZ about the handling of this too...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    Just walked through the Square where TVNZ is setting up for tomorrow's live Breakfast with Paul Henry, Pippa Wetzell and the Feelers ...

    Haven't we suffered enough?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Breakfast in the Ruins*

    Paul Henry, Pippa Wetzell and the Feelers ...
    Haven't we suffered enough?

    Raw sewage, right here, right now
    in the square you say?

    *an aside: the continuing adventures of Karl Glogauer, and who knew that Michael Moorcock also wrote Zip Nolan of the Highway Patrol and Skid Solo for Fleetway comics and also wrote for the Sexton Blake Library.

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    What about going through Jim Anderton. Might be brownie points for him but last night he seemed interested on behalf of Housing NZ tenants. I'd get in his ear and get him for a voice at least.

    I spent first 6 months of school at Hornby

    I and my sister spent time at Hornby School when I was about 9. I loved the winter that year. Snow as far as the eye could see, and the beautiful Cashmere Hills. Was quite an eye opener for this young Aucklander. I got the best knitted jumper that year from my Grandma who was in charge of my brothers doing school in Papanui. Went rather swisho with my levis I must say. :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

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