Hard News: What Now?
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nzlemming, in reply to
Radiation and a gazebo?!
It amazes me somewhat that I have never heard that story before, but thank you for brightening my Friday.
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Plus it's the propriety of where the money has gone. As a friend observed on FB, there are bodies being pulled out of collapsed buildings, tens-of-thousands are without sewage facilities, many are sleeping in tents or on sofas, and the first big monetary commitment from the government goes to a sports facility.
But again the assumption that it's a zero sum game. The turf at AMI was probably a nice easily uninsured thing that the government could target to politically soften the blow of the RWC games being taken away. Sure it's no use to people struggling for sewage and water etc, but are they worse off? Did the government spending half an hour deciding to do this prevent other things being done? Given that the money probably won't actually be spent for months is anyone's vital services going to be delayed as a result?
As compared to the government response to all the buildings that have been knocked over, people that have been killed etc, which is a lot more complex and is going to require a lot more information about damage, need, insurance coverage, land stability, building codes, and negotiation with city council, ECAN, construction companies etc.
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Radiation and a gazebo?!
We actually started calling it a gazebo because of that story. It's actually more a sort of odd cross between a gazebo and a conservatory. So it rapidly became the gazebotory. It looks just like that now, except with a massive ominous crack through the panel by the door, and the right-most roof panel in that picture completely missing. Going in to remove dangling shards of glass while we were still having aftershocks was quite the experience. Does it have hit points? Fuck yes.
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Rubble is my business...
Business owners complain about not being allowed to retrieve items from buildings before demolition.
Personally I wouldn't trust Southern Demolition as far as I could throw them,
too gung-ho for my liking...
I don't recall hearing that they bid for, and won, salvage rights - how could they have on such a huge and unknown quantity?
So surely their role is just breaking down and removing the debris, and any rubble and contents should be sequestered somewhere and still remain the property of owners, occupiers and/or insurance companies.
Any other removal of goods from this detritus should be regarded as looting...
Does anyone else know if they have been granted salvage rights? -
Sacha, in reply to
Does anyone else know if they have been granted salvage rights?
Been asking that for days; journos seem disinterested in finding answers
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Can anyone tell me when the Campbell interview with Ken Ring went on?
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Looks like Christchurch City Council could be being set up for an ECan'ing
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"The feedback we've had from businesses, the feedback we've had from individuals on the ground and, in fact, from the council is you need the full support of those various government departments that feed into Christchurch," Mr Key said.
People who force their way through cordons into Christchurch's quake-ravaged central business district (CBD) could be killed, police say.
So, you think they mean business?.
"We are all going bankrupt. We are about to lose everything and they will not tell us anything. It's a complete police state,"
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Islander, in reply to
Steve B – as we all know there are business people who have absolute treasure-troves in the sealed area of the CBD areas – and extremely difficult to ascertain* who the demolition people whacking into that area actually are-
there will be continuing problems
*nobody has yet made public ‘salvage’ rights as in, do they bide within current law?: nobody has yet made public just who & how the “demolition’ companies have been enabled.
Lotsa bad shit coming up over the next months or so- -
Craig Ranapia, in reply to
“We are all going bankrupt. We are about to lose everything and they will not tell us anything. It’s a complete police state,”
Yeah, one of those police states where people who try and barge past army cordons get shot in the head. I can understand the frustration, but I’m also reliably informed that some of the, shall we say, less constructive rhetoric (and twatcocky abuse) isn’t making the media for very good reasons.
Personally, I'd say "go to, but you do so at your own risk and don't expect anyone you've shat on to lift a finger to help if you get in trouble." Then again, you should all be thankful the world is full of much nicer people than me.
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Here is the Feb 28th John Campbell Interview
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Jacqui Dunn, in reply to
Thanks Ross.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
Crime pays if you have money, connections and authority. >:(
Just like Inside Job.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
Yeah, one of those police states where people who try and barge past army cordons get shot in the head
Quite. Or, at the least, manhandled off to the cells for an unspecified-but-entirely-at-the-discretion-of-the-police period.
Oh, wait, this is one of those police states where the jack-booted fascists escort the cordon-breachers back into the safe zone and give them a warning. Clearly the police state is alive and well in Christchurch. -
Architect Ian Athfield lays down conditions for his continued involvement in planning the rebuild - kill one way streets and keep buses out.
Improved transport links were a starting point for the city's regeneration with Athfield saying the city should no longer be dictated to by traffic engineers.
"We need strong arterial routes instead of a lot of one-way streets that take people through the city rather than to the city," he said. "We also run a lot of buses around the city with not many people in them."
The city's new transportation needs will be debated when a task force is established to oversee Christchurch's recovery - a process that could take more than a decade to reach fruition.
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BenWilson, in reply to
the city should no longer be dictated to by traffic engineers.
Because amateurs do a much better job.
I have a funny feeling that transport engineers would still be the best people to ask about how to configure the network for emergencies.
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Sacha, in reply to
Did wonder how happy Athfield would be having traffic planners designing his buildings
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Army chap tipped to head the new Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority.
A top army officer has been chosen to run a new organisation overseeing Canterbury’s earthquake recovery effort, according to political newsletter Trans Tasman.
Trans Tasman says NZ’s senior defence attaché in Europe, Brigadier Phil Gibbons, has been whisked out of London to become chief of staff to the new Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, which is to be formally instituted this week.
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Because amateurs do a much better job.
To be honest traffic engineering is one of those disciplines that really hasn't covered itself with glory vs. amateurs when it comes to town planning.
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BenWilson, in reply to
To be honest traffic engineering is one of those disciplines that really hasn't covered itself with glory vs. amateurs when it comes to town planning.
It's one of those things everyone has an opinion about, that's for sure. The traffic planner I know best is well sick of being beleaguered with stupid questions and assertions about how things should be done differently. Every time I've done it, I've usually eventually been shown that my particular bugbear has a reason behind it. I may still disagree, but that comes down to placing different priority on the many, many competing factors, usually placing my own needs higher than the general good (which, of course, they can't do). But I've usually come away feeling that the job is in better hands than my own.
Mind you, it's not like they're all in agreement. Traffic engineers have their own preferences too. If you don't like they way they've planned something, you can always find new tame engineers...which does rather defeat the purpose.
It's a bit like software engineers really. If they're given a spec to design to, and the spec is stupid and wrong (as so many are), they very often have to go through with it anyway. This is part of the reason the best software seems to be thought up by the programmers in the first place. There are exceptions.
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Sacha, in reply to
placing different priority on the many, many competing factors
Unfortunately the overarching funding systems prioritise the needs of trucks and cars - so those are the factors that planners mostly represent in their work.
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I may still disagree, but that comes down to placing different priority on the many, many competing factors, usually placing my own needs higher than the general good (which, of course, they can’t do)
They don't have much better access to the general good than you do though.
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Sacha, in reply to
Army chap tipped to head the new Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority.
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BenWilson, in reply to
They don't have much better access to the general good than you do though.
They don't, but given a set of aims, they're much better than me at achieving them. It's easy to criticize them, but try designing a large scale transport network and see if you do a better job. I figure people who have degrees in the subject tend to have an advantage.
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At last, something about salvage.
Authorities have clamped down on Christchurch demolition companies salvaging valuables from buildings set to be knocked down.
After the September quake, demolition firms helped themselves to valuables in buildings marked for destruction, Christchurch business owner Chris Meyer said.
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A Civil Defence spokesman said contracts often allowed salvage rights to the demolition companies, but Civil Defence had put in a clause to stop that happening since the February 22 quake.
"Any demolition we are organising will have that clause - but if a demolition occurred before the February earthquake, then it would depend on the individual contract."
The Christchurch City Council website states: "Demolition contractors undertaking commercial or red zone demolitions are not allowed to salvage materials. Where possible, goods of value, such as business equipment, will be returned to the owner or tenant."
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