Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: A long way yet

Hebe

Thu, 27 Sept 2012 11:29:45 +1200

The market speaks: "Sod off":

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/city-blueprint/7734509/Project-dates-set-but-still-no-land
Authorities want work to begin on Christchurch's new metro sports facility and convention centre by the end of next year but have yet to acquire any of the land....
the CCDU needs to acquire 324 land parcels for the other three projects [includes green…

Joe Wylie

Sat, 01 Sept 2012 18:20:03 +1200

North Hagley Park this afternoon.

Hebe

Sat, 01 Sept 2012 12:26:36 +1200

Yes! I have emailed.

Islander

Sat, 01 Sept 2012 04:36:41 +1200

And the fishing at that beach is so good! I would be willing to teach, and have a boat.
Anybody?

Islander

Sat, 01 Sept 2012 03:12:49 +1200

We haz beaches...damaged cribs at Moeraki (could teach kids to dig well & build- could make them available after their work for while they grew up – that's what Uncle Bill and Tui did for us...I am kaitiaki for them now ) – just a thought-

Hebe

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 22:25:53 +1200

I think he was 'visioning', which is a good thing in the right time and place. I'm too tired for a vision, even a for a think, and most people I know are the same. While the pollies are busy inspiring themselves, I'm planning a holiday for the tribe. A…

Lilith __

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:33:50 +1200

Well that's OK then!

Gerry's vision gives pride of place to a children's playground. Not thriving retail, not innovative business, not performing arts, not energy efficiency, not beautiful architecture, not vibrant community. Not even pools, gyms, libraries, and walking tracks.

A fucking children's playground. Let's aim high.

"One important part…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:43:49 +1200

Bibliofancy...
the new Peterborough Street library...
The newer Tuam Street one (by the Bus depot) is pretty good, too...

Big book fair on this weekend also:
Bookarama today thru Sunday at the Addington Raceway (may be a ball game on round there tomorrow too!)

Lilith __

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:37:02 +1200

it's a bust

a library bus

We get the library bus out here, and of course we’re glad of it. But I see the same titles on the shelves over and over. It’s no long-term solution. And certainly not for another couple of years! We need a pop-up library. Come…

Hebe

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:38:03 +1200

Nah, town or Spreydon are deemed near enough. I visited the new Peterborough Street library a few days ago and instantly fell in love: the Killeen artwork outside, the huge variety of journals and magazines, the free wifi and more. It's a cross-country trip to reach, though Kilmore St opening…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 09:07:02 +1200

Book 'em...
the loss of the South Library...
I'm surprised they haven't parked a library bus down there (or nearby) periodically (as it were)...

Hebe

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:17:24 +1200

a decision on the fate of the Sumner library before June next year

And my beautiful South Library's fate will be decided by December. That is not actually doing anything, mind. That is just _deciding what to do._I have promised myself not to swear on PA , but don't they…

Hebe

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:04:10 +1200

Coastal Pathway good. We like this.I do too. The council has seen sense at last on this one. Maybe they are planning to hook the path to the not-yet-promised Avon river park corridor that could take in the riverside red zone that Russell traversed. Then you could bike/walk from the…

Geoff Lealand

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 21:41:06 +1200

I felt much the same when I was last in Christchurch; just photos of the remaining cinemas and the row of teetering shops in High Street, where I found the old Shirley Temple scrapbook years ago,

Lilith __

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 20:47:15 +1200

Coastal Pathway good. We like this.

Lilith __

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 20:44:35 +1200

But on the brighter side, the Council will have a decision on the fate of the Sumner library before June next year . Wow, Sumner feels pretty special now. And they say this is a priority ...go figure.

Lilith __

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 20:41:15 +1200

Brownlee is giving a ’state of the recovery” speech tomorrow first thing

Hmmm. I don't know who his talk is for. Chch ppl know the state of the recovery, and I would have thought businesspeople did too.

Hebe

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 20:33:06 +1200

Brownlee is giving a 'state of the recovery" speech tomorrow first thing: I wonder what he will come up with to neuter the "two years of it" protest (this coming Tuesday September 4 is two years since the 7.1)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/7581782/Brownlee-to-give-state-of-recovery-talk

Will we get an Avon River Park, or will that…

Lucy Stewart

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 04:00:41 +1200

I can understand Russell’s reluctance about photos. I took a bike ride to New Brighton and back along the river several weeks ago, and felt the same way.

We drove through Avonside and part of Bexley in July, and did take some photos. It's the only time I've been back,…

Chris Waugh

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 22:57:30 +1200

1 to 12 ratio of cement and often specified reinforcing was not used.

Ah, what came to be called 'tofu dregs construction' (豆腐渣工程/dòufuzhāgōngchéng, for the curious) in China after the 2008 quake because the rubble makes it look like the buildings were built from the leftovers that are normally thrown…

Hebe

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:15:48 +1200

Re the concrete mix: my partner Greg was working in Haiti six weeks after their big earthquake. He found that many of the collapsed masonry buildings in Port-au-Prince were because the concrete was a 1 to 12 ratio of cement and often specified reinforcing was not used. Corruption in all…

Hebe

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:09:47 +1200

And me & mine will be there, Hebe – ka kite?

Islander, I would be honoured. I need to consult 'others'. I would surely like to take along the boys. Will email when I am on the email-enabled machine. Thank you.

Gregor Ronald

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:19:17 +1200

The Clyde Dam project had to heat and cool the concrete to cope with Central Otago's weather extremes.

Gregor Ronald

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:18:19 +1200

I can understand Russell's reluctance about photos. I took a bike ride to New Brighton and back along the river several weeks ago, and felt the same way. I only took 9 or 10 shots all afternoon; I don't even photograph the decline and decay of our old house in…

Kumara Republic

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:46:02 +1200

Among other scary rumours I’ve heard re the real estate boom up here is antifreeze being added to the cement so it’ll set before it freezes, allowing the construction to go as close to year-round as possible.

The Burj Khalifa had the opposite problem – ice had to be added…

Chris Waugh

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 01:08:34 +1200

antifreeze will *weaken* the whole construction

Yep, and the same guy who told me that one told me he deliberately bought a second hand apartment built before the boom and that when he was getting it renovated, a guy drilling holes in the wall complained about how hard the concrete…

Islander

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 00:04:34 +1200

Bloody hell – Andrew knew what he was doing and his clients appreciated the risk – but antifreeze will *weaken* the whole construction (apparently, if you leave
the foundations he built in those conditions to slowly coalesce, they are really sound. They certainl;y havent failed over the last decade & a…

Islander

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 23:55:38 +1200

The "Hui-a-Iwi" as the powers that be are now calling it, will be at the Lincoln events centre, 23rd -25th November. starting 11a.m, hosted by Taumutu runaka.
And me & mine will be there, Hebe – ka kite?

Steve Barnes

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 23:45:39 +1200

Russ, that is a beautiful piece, with the appropriate note of bitter, quiet rage.
I was thinking today about the totally callous and "superior" attitude of the sad excuse of a government we have. Instead of asking "What would you like to do with your land and how can we…

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:23:34 +1200

Building a house on Pitt Island – where the cement FROZE before it set? Yep.

Holy moly.

Siblings are the best. Can't imagine what it'd be like being an only child. -except for a lot quieter and with a lot less bossing around! :-)

Chris Waugh

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:23:04 +1200

where the cement FROZE before it set

Among other scary rumours I've heard re the real estate boom up here is antifreeze being added to the cement so it'll set before it freezes, allowing the construction to go as close to year-round as possible.

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:20:38 +1200

Islander, have you heard any more about a Sept 4 marking? are you still coming for the Ngai Tahu gathering?

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:18:04 +1200

Sounds like a riverside toilet in Christchurch; should be right at home.

Islander

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:06:48 +1200

Andrew is way taller than me, and way more organised. He has the trader gene my Maori side of the family is renowned for. Which is also known for total honesty and committment for a given deal, He's my little brother but I respect him to the max – he's…

Islander

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:58:49 +1200

Has tidal waves & the after-effects of tsunami (not to mention blowback from volcanic eruption...)

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:12:41 +1200

I would just love to wake up one morning and find it was all a bad dream. Or some secret conspiracy to mess with our minds*. :-)Natural forces or a massive mindgame: think I'll go with natural forces. But I have read that Northland has no earthquakes, and I love…

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:05:11 +1200

Make Me a City In a Week, or something.

Some people claim to have done a whole planet in that time, one city should be a doddle!

I would just love to wake up one morning and find it was all a bad dream. Or some secret conspiracy to mess…

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:59:57 +1200

Me too! Do you think we'll have to wait long? Perhaps someone can let us know when Chch comes right again! :-/We need a mega-reality show: Make Me a City In a Week, or something.

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:47:03 +1200

I will keep an ear open

Thanks Hebe and Islander. :-)

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:44:42 +1200

Google is still showing the city as was – St Asaph on a sunny Sunday morning. I cried. It’s still a shock to directly compare the place: I go down there every day, have lived here large chunks of my life, and the old pictures look “righter” than the reality.…

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:42:10 +1200

Now to stop idly planning other people’s city and maybe try and do something productive.

Rather you than Gerry, Chris! :-)

Sofie Bribiesca

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:38:25 +1200

I was a little short on time and wanted a rest before joining Stephen Emma and Karl for a pint or three at Pomeroy’s.

I can almost hear the melancholy in your writing RB. May I say however, glad you chose Pomeroys for your pints. My friend Ava and her…

Islander

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:34:21 +1200

Thanks!
I would hate to compromise a person's anonymity-

Russell Brown

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:04:46 +1200

Russell- there seems to be no delete function!
I have tried to delete what I thought was a private message to lillith and it is not working – PLEASE can you get rid of it?

Done. And yes, delete is a special power.

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:27:15 +1200

I just had a memory blank spot and Google mapped "the old Budget Rental cars site in St Asaph Street" (referred to in the Press piece I posted above). So I could find the Dance-O-Mat. Google is still showing the city as was — St Asaph on a sunny Sunday…

Islander

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:22:33 +1200

Russell- there seems to be no delete function!
I have tried to delete what I thought was a private message to lillith and it is not working – PLEASE can you get rid of it?

Chris Waugh

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:21:43 +1200

this good Press piece

Very interesting piece. Reminded me of my walk through Daliushu (means 'Big Willow Tree'*) market on Sunday morning. That place had life, lots of locals buying and selling all kinds of goods from heavily used power tools to old books to artwork of dubous merit to…

Russell Brown

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:04:32 +1200

But context matters too. Perhaps the best possible thing would be to give some red-zoned people the gear and the forum to explain and record their own circumstances.

I'd have probably felt okay about it had I devoted a day to Avonside. It was the feeling of just passing through…

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:59:15 +1200

"Gerry Brownlee would love this!" Monumental, domineering, inhumane, barren, and, apart from certain very rare occasions, the only locals there work there Heh.

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:53:26 +1200

Bugger. I will keep an ear open.

Chris Waugh

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:43:41 +1200

On my way home I was stopped at a traffic light and looked around and thought, "Gerry Brownlee would love this!" Monumental, domineering, inhumane, barren, and, apart from certain very rare occasions, the only locals there work there (mostly in security) or are hurrying through (so far as hurrying is…

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:40:01 +1200

Sigh. My landlord's circumstances have changed. Anyone wants a flatmate or tenant, drop me an email.

Sacha

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:08:29 +1200

How could this not be obvious?

just consider who profits..

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:37:07 +1200

I have seen "transition" proposals. Somewhere. When I find, I will post them.

Edited to add this good Press piece:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/6992137/A-temporary-long-term-solution

Don't know how all that has developed — I will follow up if possible.

Russell Brown

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:35:16 +1200

As I’ve probably said in other threads, CERA seems to have given no thought to allowing short-to-medium-term solutions in the CBD: pop-up premises that are “temporary” but which could work for several years while bigger projects are worked out and built. “Temporary” destinations will keep the CBD alive; turning it…

Kumara Republic

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:28:36 +1200

If we continue to merrily and unthinkingly socialise the costs, and privatise the profits- we’ll get more and more of this.

In the words of Michael Moore...

__“The smart rich know they can only build the gate so high. And … history proves that people, when they’ve had enough, aren’t…

Robert Fox

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:23:23 +1200

I hope so to, but small start ups often rely on cheap end of life cycle rental space. Unfortunately the the Feb 22 quake dealt to most of those type of buildings.

Rob Stowell

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:13:34 +1200

leaving the remaining area inside the four avenues ripe for colonisation by the small businesses and creatives.
Hope so!

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:11:42 +1200

I like some of the CBD plan, and I do not see the need for monoliths either. The thinking should be smarter not bigger, as you say. I like the green frame concept, but am very uncertain about the effect of its execution. I hope my fears for the city…

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:10:09 +1200

I’d like to propose that the investors so keen to buy our port, power company and airport invest in the stadium and convention centre instead. What- too risky, no return, too expensive? Yet we are supposed to sell assets to pay for them?

Word.

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:01:45 +1200

the new CBD has no place for the little people like we ratepayers. It will be all Louis Vuitton franchises, McDonalds, and shiny multinational bullshit.

...who will all go broke and close down their stores unless locals shop there. Why would we go to town for the same old crap…

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:00:47 +1200

If it's like the old stadium, the rugby union will have the stranglehold on the bookings while the council pays for the stadium to operate — and it's very expensive. On a per days-used-each-year basis, the stadium cost is exorbitant.

Rob Stowell

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:59:54 +1200

A case can be made for both stadium and convention centre. It's just that nobody has bothered. It's all guesswork and 'conventional wisdom.'
Different arguments for each... but both, we are told, will generate jobs for locals and spin-offs for city businesses that make them worthwhile.
Personally, I'm dubious a…

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:56:42 +1200

reps stuck to their talking pointsThat is infuriating. We are talked at, not with. Most of us have realised the new CBD has no place for the little people like we ratepayers. It will be all Louis Vuitton franchises, McDonalds, and shiny multinational bullshit. On the plus side, our "villages"…

Alice Ronald

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:54:12 +1200

Is there any indication that it would be a single-purpose facility? The previous stadium was used for several sports, plus concerts & other events. I'd be more likely to go to rugby games in a covered stadium that was closer to pubs etc for the aftermatch – I hated the idea…

Robert Fox

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:41:09 +1200

Some people I talk to are fine with it- others hopping mad
And it looks like those who are hopping mad are going to be ignored as nay sayers while the grinding wheels of "progress" roll on. My main fear is that resentment towards these big ticket projects will endure,…

andin

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:41:05 +1200

Beautifully written post, and the comments. I just dont know and didnt want to guess the feelings of those there, and how being there was, as time has dragged on and the NACT govt reps stuck to their talking points.
I guess Im starting to understand now.

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:31:20 +1200

Yes, we need good photographs taken with good intent and respect. But for me I don't need to do it; others have more to offer. I like the idea of giving the residents the means (if they haven't already got them) — maybe they don't have the emotional strength so…

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:27:14 +1200

does that include a 2000 capacity international convention centre at its heart, and a 35,000 capacity stadium?

Rob, my understanding is that the convention centre is an attempt to reverse the catastrophic decline in South Island tourism since the earthquakes. I can see the thinking behind that but I don't…

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:17:06 +1200

It seems bad manners to document the death of other people’s dreams.

I understand both the impulse to record and the impulse not to. I'm not sure red-zoned folk and their circumstances are better served by their being invisible. How can people in other places understand what's going on if…

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:13:06 +1200

distaster tourismQuite. I find myself getting irate at the foreign tourist types who drop for a day or two of gawping before going off for an extreme MacAdventure in Queenstown or wherever.

Tim Michie

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:01:14 +1200

Exactly thank you Russell and Hebe. I can't even finish a proper sentence on distaster tourism

Hebe

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:44:33 +1200

I stayed on Pages Road for most of the way back, rather than going back through Avonside to take pictures as I'd planned... But mostly, it didn't feel right. It doesn't feel right; as a life-long observer, recorder, and picture-taker, I cannot take pictures of these sadnesses. It seems bad…

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:42:37 +1200

our toilets still work, it’s just that the wall may fall on us

Toilets of Damocles! Oh dear.

Mike O'Connell

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:31:24 +1200

Great to be reminded of those bulls Lilith, they were, they are, fantastic. Also the Monopoly site (the mini-digger and pink houses!) in Manchester St on the site of the former Cycle Trading Company. We need more of these to liven up the spaces laid bare.
And venues, so the…

Alice Ronald

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:27:11 +1200

You're right – so many Monday mornings are filled with finding out what colleagues did on the weekend so that you have an idea of something to do during the week or next weekend. What's open, exactly where such-and-such is going on, how far in advance do you need to…

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:34:51 +1200

I don't know how many people saw my pics of the Parekowhai bulls a couple of weeks back, but I think you can see in these pictures how delighted folks have been to have some awesome things in the CBD.

We don't need perfect new buildings just now. We're used…

Rob Stowell

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:34:10 +1200

Nice summary. And yes- the best weekend weather since April! Grey skies, floods, and cold haven't helped.
We all want the facilities and services that a normal functioning modern city requires
Yeah. But does that include a 2000 capacity international convention centre at its heart, and a 35,000 capacity stadium?…

Kumara Republic

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:25:01 +1200

On a brighter note, Drexel's, who lost their original Hereford St location to the earthquakes, have now set up shop in Wellington.

Lilith __

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:22:07 +1200

Robert Fox

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:00:50 +1200

Weather wise you choose a great weekend for you visit Russell, there's nothing like warm sunshine to raise the spirits. I think you've nailed the general ambiance of the Christchurch above. Things seem to finally be happening here and while most in the city are pleased that a future is…

Public Address

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:00:50 +1200

Discussion from blog post.