Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: What Now?

Steve Barnes

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 14:51:54 +1200

One other point about brick cladding/veneer is that as the mass is on the exterior of the house the thermal efficiency is very low, even with insulation. This would be an opportunity to address that failing too.It also creates an opportunity to install insulation and new wiring and increase the…

Steve Barnes

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 14:33:47 +1200

timber-framed houses with damaged brick veneer cladding and tile roofs could be recladded easily with new weatherboards and corrugated iron roofs.

I have actually done this on several occasions. It's relatively cheap, not too highly skilled, the removal of the bricks and tiles is almost totally skill free and the…

Kumara Republic

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 13:30:20 +1200

Well you know, he'll get away with writing anything from the comfort blanket of his razor-wired McMansion.

Sacha

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:56:06 +1200

John Roughan's ignorance of economics doesn't stop him offering an opinion about financing Christchurch's recovery in the upcoming Budget.

The Finance Minister runs his contradictory themes by invoking two different sorts of national debt. When he is stern about general expenditure he cites the total external debt, which is horrendous and…

Sacha

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:51:29 +1200

Engineer and straight-talking troubleshooter Wayne Brown has offered advice about ways to rebuild quake-damaged suburban houses better and more cheaply. Naturally both Sideshow Bob and Field-Marshall Brownlee have ignored him.

Brown – who is speaking for a 12-strong engineering review team that went down to Christchurch early last month – says…

Rich of Observationz

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:50:53 +1200

For all but the largest generators, liability for an accident like Fukushima would involve bankruptcy. But for an investor with shares in say ten electricity generators, that wouldn't matter, as they'd only lose 10% of their investment.

Of course, if the assets of the failed company are insufficient to pay…

BenWilson

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:27:57 +1200

I would say there's probably sufficient data for actuarial calculations to be carried out for indemnity insurance for nuclear plant operators

I don't think so. It's a pretty conservative business, insurance. Insuring against the chances of being sued off 3 data points in 3 totally different countries, for 3 quite…

Matthew Poole

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:43:09 +1200

As has been said by others, the cost of nuclear power is not just the initial capital, but the indemnity if it all goes horribly wrong. Taken as a global aggregate, I would say there's probably sufficient data for actuarial calculations to be carried out for indemnity insurance for nuclear…

Sacha

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:02:37 +1200

Bribe someone with a hard hat and access inside the cordon, or suck up to FieldMarshall Brownlee and chums? I'd get it all out pronto in any case – just look at the stories about people who have played by the rules and been shafted for it.

Rich of Observationz

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:56:42 +1200

Well, well.

The liability is now estimated as topping $80bln and the Japanese government is talking about a cap. (or of course, TEPCO could file for bankruptcy).

Kumara Republic

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:38:27 +1300

Yeah, but if you're important you can afford that kind of life.

So if razor wires and burly guards are confined to the overclasses, then what of the middle & upper middle classes? Type 'E' licences, methinks? So that probably leaves sticks & stones for the proles.

Greg Dawson

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:26:27 +1300

Umm, I am putting it here because I'm not sure where else.

If someone has a house with around a million bucks worth of original NZ art in it, which has been red stickered... what exactly do they need to do to try and stop that being lost to us…

Matthew Poole

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:22:33 +1300

For all its faults, a welfare system exists so that the well-to-do don’t have to live behind a razor wire comfort blanket, or have the SAS drive their kids to school.

Yeah, but if you're important you can afford that kind of life. And the organs of the state are…

Kumara Republic

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:23:45 +1300

you're assuming that's not what codders-type people want.

the alternate view is that the welfare state means that 'these types of people' have enough money to get within 5 km of people like herself.

I was basing my theory off nations where the welfare state is non-existent or otherwise threadbare,…

Andrew Stevenson

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:11:33 +1300

I don't know if this has been discussed here (I've not read every post), could Civil Defense be creating unintended consequences with its managment of the cordon/red zone.
Next time there is an emergency, could people take make more risks and/or not assist others if they are trying to remove…

Che Tibby

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 08:31:42 +1300

a welfare system exists so that the well-to-do don’t have to live behind a razor wire comfort blanket, or have the SAS drive their kids to school.

you're assuming that's not what codders-type people want.

the alternate view is that the welfare state means that 'these types of people' have…

Sacha

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:42:25 +1300

Coddington has written some saner columns of late, but this is not one of them.

I agree; it's disappointingly stupid

Kumara Republic

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 23:50:33 +1300

Simpering Actoid ninny Deb Coddington argues that if the well-off white folk of Sumner can organise themselves then why have a government response at all.

Coddington has written some saner columns of late, but this is not one of them. For all its faults, a welfare system exists so that…

Islander

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:56:34 +1300

That post of her’s was embarassing – but some of the rightywhitey comments afterwards – whew!

Matthew Poole

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:41:44 +1300

It’s just downright insulting to order New Zealanders to donate. The spontaneous benevolence of Kiwis in the quake’s aftermath has been outstanding.

And, of course, the spontaneous benevolence will continue for the forthcoming decades, with the nation voluntarily paying for the rebuild.

Why can’t governments realise they are not the…

Richard CLARK

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:56:34 +1300

Totally disagree about Napier, look to Hastings for an alive vibrant City that works. Napier dropped the ball and depends on retirees and holiday makers.

Sacha

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:10:22 +1300

Simpering Actoid ninny Deb Coddington argues that if the well-off white folk of Sumner can organise themselves then why have a government response at all.

PPPs are surely the answer, she insists. And the good people of Martinborough raised $7000 with a cake stall, so there – the most important thing…

Christopher Dempsey

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:24:52 +1300

Athfeild being involved in any kind of reconstruction is a bad idea. Architects understand individual buildings extremely well. Not so a collection of buildings and even lesser so a city.

Sacha

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:26:19 +1300

You can get as pissy about it as you like

Sorry, just too busy today to do it justice. Please do link to the stuff if you have time, so others can join in too.

Matthew Poole

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:23:13 +1300

As I've said, that has been done competently and thoroughly by others

Yes, I know. I've followed their work. This is the first time it's been absolutely unarguable that the patronage of Auckland's rail network is higher than the usage of the Puhoi-Warkworth stretch, even in the face of Key's…

Sacha

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:13:10 +1300

I'm not going to get into the detail today. As I've said, that has been done competently and thoroughly by others, and there are some fishhooks in the way the figures are derived and interpreted.

Nothing personal about Jones either. His predecessors failed to challenge blatant lying. There is also…

Matthew Poole

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:08:20 +1300

Oh, and PS: Jones only took over Transport about a month ago. It's a bit much to expect him to be across every detail just yet, especially something that can be twisted and munged as much as this one.

Matthew Poole

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:45:44 +1300

It has been thoroughly debunked on transportblog for the last couple of years

Uh, except that until recently is was a very close-run thing. The figures used by National were actually plausible, depending how one did the counting at Puford. The September annual rail figure made it very, very close,…

Matthew Poole

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:41:51 +1300

Isn't it almost always going to be more efficient to pump money into Auckland infrastructure, because the ROI is higher, due to the high population, with high wages, paying more tax? Aren't we already seeing a runaway effect?

Depends how Auckand grows. If the city sprawls more, as envisaged by…

Sacha

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:40:12 +1300

It has been thoroughly debunked on transportblog for the last couple of years, every time Joyce tries it on. No excuses. If the opposition can't be bothered reading in their portfolio area then they are part of the problem, not the solution. And they need to work together.

Matthew Poole

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:24:57 +1300

Hope someone on the opposition benches was ready with the rebuttal evidence – or they can just get out of the way.

To be fair to them, the last highly-public figure for rail patronage was the one Key used – a figure that was actually better than the old figure…

Kumara Republic

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:21:07 +1300

Prostetnic Vogons Joyce and English have their heads buried in the tar sand. They think that the best Plan B is no Plan B.

Does peak oil change the logic of my thought experiment? Or does it make it worse? If oil prices increase, the sprawly cities become less and…

BenWilson

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:18:05 +1300

Does peak oil change the logic of my thought experiment? Or does it make it worse? If oil prices increase, the sprawly cities become less and less attractive, and choke out to the cities with mass transit already in place even more so. So runaway could accelerate.

I mostly agree…

Sacha

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:16:01 +1300

Key's claim in the House yesterday that more people use the Puford route daily than use rail in Auckland

Joyce has been pinged for trotting out that same lie repeatedly. Hope someone on the opposition benches was ready with the rebuttal evidence – or they can just get out of…

Matthew Poole

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:54:21 +1300

Two words: peak oil

Quite. Contrary to the pronouncements of Joyce and English, transport modality is sensitive to the cost of petrol where an alternative exists. Rail patronage in Auckland is increasing at a great rate; the 18:16 service I caught home last night was so packed the train manager…

Sacha

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:42:02 +1300

I do admire massive cities with mass transit. But I also wonder about the extent to which the time for creating such cities has passed.

Two words: peak oil

BenWilson

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:02:39 +1300

if i weren't an old-fashioned command and control socialist, I'd mutter something about hayek and `designing' being the wrong approach anyway

It's not like transport engineers haven't considered whether their entire business is pointless. There are positions within the discipline that suggest that people will decide for themselves where they…

Isabel Hitchings

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:24:08 +1300

I'm trying to work out how "fewer buses" results in "more people in the city". Is he going to issue us with jet-packs?

Keir Leslie

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:51:54 +1300

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.

Given a set of aims is of course the problematic.

(PS. if i…

Sacha

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:11:22 +1300

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.

...

A Civil Defence spokesman said contracts…

BenWilson

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:09:35 +1300

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…

Sacha

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:37:11 +1300

Army chap tipped to head the new Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority.

Apparently not

Keir Leslie

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:32:46 +1300

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.

Sacha

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:28:31 +1300

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.

BenWilson

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:15:26 +1300

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…

Keir Leslie

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:48:09 +1300

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.

Sacha

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:57:06 +1300

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…

Sacha

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:55:22 +1300

Did wonder how happy Athfield would be having traffic planners designing his buildings

BenWilson

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:19:51 +1300

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.

Sacha

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:07:33 +1300

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…

Matthew Poole

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:26:33 +1300

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…

Kumara Republic

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:40:02 +1300

Crime pays if you have money, connections and authority. >:(

Just like Inside Job.

Jacqui Dunn

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:49:35 +1300

Thanks Ross.

Ross Mason

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:12:52 +1300

Here is the Feb 28th John Campbell Interview

Craig Ranapia

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:26:11 +1300

“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…

Islander

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:26:18 +1300

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’…

Steve Barnes

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:20:30 +1300

"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…

Matthew Poole

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 21:49:38 +1300

Looks like Christchurch City Council could be being set up for an ECan'ing

Jacqui Dunn

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:48:11 +1300

Can anyone tell me when the Campbell interview with Ken Ring went on?

Sacha

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:14:50 +1300

Does anyone else know if they have been granted salvage rights?

Been asking that for days; journos seem disinterested in finding answers

Ian Dalziel

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:00:56 +1300

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…

Emma Hart

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 11:40:59 +1300

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…

Kyle Matthews

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 10:57:03 +1300

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…

nzlemming

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:34:26 +1300

Radiation and a gazebo?!

It amazes me somewhat that I have never heard that story before, but thank you for brightening my Friday.

Greg Dawson

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:11:08 +1300

I dunno, they do some crazy shit out east. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Emma Hart had a reactor in her gazebo…

Radiation and a gazebo?!

It just gets worse and worse!

nzlemming

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:08:52 +1300

Ending badly?

Bart Janssen

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:06:31 +1300

I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Emma Hart had a reactor in her gazebo…

That'll explain the strange glow at night

Sacha

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:54:34 +1300

I can see this ending badly..

BenWilson

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:39:22 +1300

He's gonna melt you down!

Emma Hart

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:22:14 +1300

had a reactor in her gazebo...

Is this... some kind of euphemism?

nzlemming

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:08:05 +1300

I’d put it in the Japan Moves thread, given there’s no radiation issue in Chch

I dunno, they do some crazy shit out east. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Emma Hart had a reactor in her gazebo...

Sacha

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:58:44 +1300

Business owners complain about not being allowed to retreive items from buildings before demolition.

The Standard has a post about the topic now. Includes an allegation that private demolition compaines are acting without Civil Defense autorisation. No evidence offered, and the usual warnings about quality of comments apply. But surely…

Sacha

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:49:41 +1300

I'd put it in the Japan Moves thread, given there's no radiation issue in Chch

Bart Janssen

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:35:33 +1300

Sorry if this is the wrong thread but this is a really good piece about low dose radiation hazards. It's not something you want to do casually but there really is very little knowledge about what happens when people are exposed to low doses and no certainty that the effects…

Sacha

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:45:05 +1300

Business owners complain about not being allowed to retreive items from buildings before demolition.

The protesters were led by photographer Kurt Langer, who said the group were afraid their buildings would be demolished before they were allowed back in to salvage anything.

...

"It's a complete communist state telling us we…

Hilary Stace

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:12:16 +1300

Sorry that was on the wrong thread. It was supposed to be on the Arie thread.

Hilary Stace

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:25:41 +1300

Note to future historians, more on this saga at this newer thread.

Steve Barnes

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 09:45:28 +1300

I think you're assuming there's a zero sum game there.

Nah, merely being disingenuous. ;-)

Matthew Poole

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 07:52:10 +1300

The people that work on reconstructing sports stadium turf probably otherwise wouldn't be working on building houses or essential services so they're not slowing those things down at all.

Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn't have thought there was enough work in NZ to justify specialist turf installers for that grade…

Kyle Matthews

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:44:26 +1300

Ok then. Now that the really important stuff is sorted out, how about some houses for people to live in, you know, when you can get round to it, no hurry.

I think you're assuming there's a zero sum game there. The people that work on reconstructing sports stadium turf…

Carol Stewart

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:47:10 +1300

Yes, it was nicely done. JC has managed to make it clear that he was only apologising for his interview manners, not his assessment of KR's magic powers. HIs team did a grand demolition job too.

nzlemming

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 21:36:04 +1300

And he's already suggesting that criminal charges might be laid as a result. Against whom, exactly? The architects? The builders? The owners?

The earth, obviously. There must be a statute that applies...

Seriously, you're right – it's all posturing, just as he postured about not taking the games away from…

Matthew Poole

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 21:32:55 +1300

Cabinet has agreed to establish a Royal Commission into the Canterbury Earthquake, Prime Minister John Key has announced.

And he's already suggesting that criminal charges might be laid as a result. Against whom, exactly? The architects? The builders? The owners? Assuming the buildings were appropriately assessed after September, and the…

Bart Janssen

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:46:15 +1300

Just want to compliment TV3 and Campbell for actually interviewing real scientists about the Ken Ring bollocks. Coherent interviews and coherent editing all made for a good story.

Islander

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:40:02 +1300

Well, Fletcher Builing has announced that it can start building a "1000 homes" right now...doesnt say where, and doesnt mention the fact that the company is hated by a number – a rather large number- of smaller businesses based in CHCH and environs who feel the ground has been (sorry)…

Steve Barnes

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:35:20 +1300

I really should check my facts a little better. The Government are doing something.

Cabinet has agreed to establish a Royal Commission into the Canterbury Earthquake, Prime Minister John Key has announced.

The inquiry will examine issues around the built environment in the Christchurch CBD including, but not limited…

Steve Barnes

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:56:04 +1300

As I said on another thread…
The actions of the police in Christchurch have done nothing but hinder the recovery by not allowing anybody to go anywhere…. by stopping people seeking out their loved ones and securing their possessions in the name of “Safety”.

And then I read…

[[http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/4768205/Christchurch-business-people-want-answers |…

stephen walker

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:28:00 +1300

the cost of the nuclear disaster will be extremely high. TEPCO has lost a third of its base load generating capacity. the economic losses stemming from electricity shortages in the TEPCO service area alone will be enormous. no once knows how much losss will be caused by contamination--there seems good…

BenWilson

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:56:54 +1300

The coastal land around the reactor has suffered considerably worse than just about anything the reactor could do, already. Its value has taken a pretty big hit already, the property there being covered in salt water and wreckage, and thousands of the locals having lost their lives.

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:26:58 +1300

Ok, I take your point on the land being coastal. The price of land in that part of Japan appears to be over $2mln a hectare, so I took 10%. The actual figure somebody could sue for (assuming that nuclear reactors aren't protected by statute in Japan) would be quite…

Rob Stowell

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:56:48 +1300

I guess it's a bit much to expect McCully to come out and say it was an expensive folly we were bullied into ‘upgrading’ so we could get a few WC matches?
I dunno how many thousands it’s now sposed to fit. But before they added all those seats, it…

Steve Barnes

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:44:51 +1300

$4.1m package for AMI Stadium

Mr McCully announced the Government will grant $4.1 million to allow the turf repair work to commence immediately at AMI Stadium so it will be ready for next year's season.

"The stadium is an important sport and recreation asset and revenue earner for the…

Islander

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:38:02 +1300

Absolutely.
And, it has been a general assumption by CHCH residents that the RWC games were not possible from -o, about the 23rd February? Key & Parker’s comments not withstanding.

Kumara Republic

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:22:44 +1300

All RWC games moved from Christchurch.

That's gotta sting. But there was no other choice – even if they somehow got in boatloads of Chinese labourers and did a Hong Kong on the local red tape, AMI Stadium likely still wouldn't have been fixed in time, if even properly to…

Martin Lindberg

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:15:00 +1300

All RWC games moved from Christchurch.

SteveH

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:08:49 +1300

- loss of land use within 20km of plant for one year (100,000 hectares @ $200k/hectare) = $20 bln
Your estimate on the land area is too high. Being on the coast the amount of land within 20km is more like 70,000 hectares. Obviously it remains to be seen as…

BenWilson

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:05:56 +1300

That's a conservative estimate. And guess what – they weren't insured! No insurance company would cover such a risk, so the government and people absorb it. If nuclear power plants had to be insured for their potential liability, they would never get built.

To be fair to insurers, they can't…

Rich Lock

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:21:35 +1300

and yet we're talking about it seriously rather than the rebuilding of Christchurch..

Ok, I'd like to talk about the rather disturbing but persistent rumours of heavy-handed 'salvage' operations in ChCh. Anyone got anything?

Also, while I'm here: I didn't get a tsunami warning text on Fri/Sat despite supposedly being…

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:56:28 +1300

Do people realize what the cost of the Japanese situation is likely to be? Lets say:
– total loss of plant $20 billion
– indefinite loss of land use within 1km of plant (300 hectares @ $2mln/hectare = $600mln
– loss of land use within 20km of plant for one…

Sacha

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:15:49 +1300

and yet we're talking about it seriously rather than the rebuilding of Christchurch..

SteveH

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:59:09 +1300

That renders the question of whether nuclear power can be made truly safe somewhat moot in the NZ context. I'm far from convinced that it can be.
I'm not sure it can be made truly safe economically (in NZ), which is probably what you mean. And I agree there is…

BenWilson

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:47:21 +1300

How often do nuclear reactors get subjected to meltdown containment tests?

They don't get built just so they can be melted down, no. But you can test a lot of things in isolation to get a very accurate picture of the overall system. They don't use actual people in car…

Matthew Poole

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:55:11 +1300

Whether there is a will do so is the real question

Ultimately I don't think it's a will that NZ is ever going to have to seriously examine.
We have other options, ones that get caught on "It ruins my view" NIMBYism rather than ones that get caught on "It…

81stcolumn

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 02:15:20 +1300

Sheep had to be tested before being moved or slaughtered. I'm not aware of any locations in the UK being unable to produce food. The vast majority of restrictions were lifted by the end of 1986.

I think it worth clarifying that sheep continue to fail the test to this…

SteveH

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:39:07 +1300

Holy shit.

Indeed. It all gets a bit surreal when the buildings start floating away.

SteveH

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:37:47 +1300

It wasn’t a melting of the entire mass of fissile material. When I asked if it’d been tested, I meant has anyone actually tried setting up a runaway, uncontrolled reaction that results in complete core meltdown in order to validate this supposed design strength?
That would be rather ridiculous. Are…

Ross Mason

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 22:23:26 +1300

Tsunami video. 6 minutes 22 seconds..

Holy shit.

Matthew Poole

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:30:06 +1300

3 Mile Island was a meltdown, so yes, it’s been tested
That’s arguable. It wasn’t a melting of the entire mass of fissile material.
When I asked if it’d been tested, I meant has anyone actually tried setting up a runaway, uncontrolled reaction that results in complete core meltdown in…

nzlemming

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:43:30 +1300

Oh, please, let us not replay the Ring Cycle! Sigmund, deliver us!

Islander

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:36:04 +1300

Well Ring's " predictions " for the Hokitika Wild Foods Festival were TOTALLY off
(possible earthquakes and very wet SW weather = none of 'em and a v. fine sunny day) just like all his other predictions (excluding the random factor of chance...)

David Hood

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:21:45 +1300

Nuclear Power in New Zealand is impractical from economic reasons (there is no cost justification whatsoever that I’ve seen that works without massively externalizing costs), engineering (issues about the grid load from one source), and social. All could in theory change, but I am pretty confident in saying “not in…

James Butler

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:20:23 +1300

Having said that, Fukushima 4 is now on fire. That's bad.

James Butler

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:17:00 +1300

One day after an oil refinery fire I could walk in and start cleaning it up. One day after a nuclear meltdown would mean how many years before I can grow rice???

Not necessarily that long, because a meltdown is not the same as a catastrophic release of radioactive materials.…

Ross Mason

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:12:28 +1300

One day after an oil refinery fire I could walk in and start cleaning it up. One day after a nuclear meltdown would mean how many years before I can grow rice???

SteveH

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:25:23 +1300

1) they are still unable to produce that food 25 flippin' years after being dosed
Sheep had to be tested before being moved or slaughtered. I'm not aware of any locations in the UK being unable to produce food. The vast majority of restrictions were lifted by the end of…

Sacha

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:14:10 +1300

NZAS at Bluff (the Aramoana smelter was never built)

Thank you. Too distracted.

Steve Barnes

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:45:31 +1300

@Steve Barnes:Which to my mind raises the greater part of my own concerns. 40 years is an awfully long time to be employing and using same design;Now you're just making me feel even older.

Steve Barnes

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:32:42 +1300

Ok Pigeons, may I introduce you to Cat, shall we call him Colin?
Quite an interesting documentary claiming all kinds of interesting things such as...

Radiation, not just for fun and profit, it could be good for you
For the last 50 years the world has lived in…

SteveH

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:23:23 +1300

And this has been tested? No, didn’t think so.
3 Mile Island was a meltdown, so yes, it's been tested. We don't really know what's going on at Fukushima I yet, but it's very likely that meltdowns have occurred in all three of the reactors where the cooling systems failed.…

Bart Janssen

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:13:29 +1300

Hilary that's awful. And I understand your need to find a reason for your own tragedy. But there is no possible way Chernobyl could have had anything to do with your child's cancer.

You can distrust nuclear energy for many reasons, my personal one is the damage the uranium mines…

BenWilson

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:06:17 +1300

But: 1) they are still unable to produce that food 25 flippin' years after being dosed, and 2) the UK is a bloody long way away from the Ukraine.

They're unable to produce some kinds of food. Which is not the only thing farmland can be used for. It could…

Hilary Stace

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:57:28 +1300

Chernobyl happened in April 1986 and in Feb 1987 my five year old in NZ was diagnosed with leukaemia. I just don't trust fall out maps, sorry. I don't know what caused her illness, but I know some people are more susceptible than others to radioactivity, environmental toxins or whatever,…

Rich Lock

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:31:27 +1300

Scotland is not uninhabitable. It produces a lot of food. You have massively overprojected the destruction that the Chernobyl accident wreaked.

Yes, to a point. Small areas of the UK are still unable to produce food fit for human consumption, as a direct consequence of radioactive fallout from Chernobyl.

But:…

James Butler

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:13:39 +1300

True, although I don’t know if this will continue to be the case. NZ is going to grow. Who knows how much demand there will be for power in the future?

After all, there's only a limited supply of river valleys one can conveniently flood for hydro generation.

BenWilson

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:06:33 +1300

True, although I don't know if this will continue to be the case. NZ is going to grow. Who knows how much demand there will be for power in the future? But in the short (like 10-20 years) term, I can't see it.

Kumara Republic

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:56:01 +1300

I've said it before, but it won't be the greenies who'll prevent nuclear energy happening in NZ. It'll be the bean counters. Nuclear energy, in a NZ context, is little more than a delusion of John Frum cultists.

Fooman

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:54:21 +1300

Charcoal-derived carbon iron reduction is iron age technology. Coking coal is 18th or 19th century technology. The only other large scale reduction process for steel that I can remember is using natural gas (methane) as the reducing agent. Which can be considered a bit of a waste of a useful…

Fooman

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:36:35 +1300

Using coal to smelt steel is iron age technology.

Er, no its not. Coking coal is a essential ingredient in steel making, regardless of the process (basic oxygen, electric arc, reduction as per Glenbrook).

iron = iron ore – (oxygen removed by oxidation of carbon)

Steel = iron plus carbon…

Fooman

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:31:51 +1300

Aramoana uses 15% of our total generation. You’d need to expand it many times over to justify the cost of building nuclear power infrastructure and capability.

NZAS at Bluff (the Aramoana smelter was never built) uses around 600 to 700 MW operating at full capacity. A mid-size conventional nuke plant…

Sofie Bribiesca

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:29:10 +1300

Sorry to interrupt folks so ignore this if you like ,just thought this was a thread that mentioned the stadium,on the other hand, I could be completely wrong.
slight tangent from Te Harold

81stcolumn

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:21:37 +1300

Would I be right in surmising that power (electricity ?) generation should not be in commercial hands ?

Steve Barnes

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:19:05 +1300

What’s happened in Japan has been a real testament to the modern design of nuclear plants,

True. I worked, back in the UK, with an engineer who had worked on Nuclear Power Plants in Japan, must be thirty years back. I remember him telling me that the foundations of the…

BenWilson

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:18:21 +1300

so much that we really shouldn't generate usable energy any other way.

Well, electricity anyway. If we discovered easily accessible offshore oil, we'd be crazy not to take it. And biofuel might be profitable at some point if we could get away from our obsessions relating to genetic engineering.

I'm…

81stcolumn

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:15:15 +1300

.............the reactors in Japan were built 40 years ago and no-one would compare the safety of a car built 40 years ago with one built now so why should they compare reactors.

Which to my mind raises the greater part of my own concerns. 40 years is an awfully long…

Fooman

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:12:14 +1300

Nuclear power is not a viable option for his country even just on economic grounds – we simply don’t have the scale of industry or population to justify building a nuclear capability.

Probably true for conventional nuclear power (generally >1000 MW units). People have been encouraged by the smaller pebble…

Bart Janssen

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:04:19 +1300

In practice, we haven’t got a snowball’s chance in hell of predicting and controlling all the possible ways that Mother Nature can fuck with our best-laid plans.

No we haven't. But at some point you have to decide you are going to live your life. You can't be safe anywhere,…

Sacha

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:01:49 +1300

Aramoana uses 15% of our total generation. You'd need to expand it many times over to justify the cost of building nuclear power infrastructure and capability.

81stcolumn

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:01:10 +1300

Scotland is not uninhabitable. It produces a lot of food. You have massively overprojected the destruction that the Chernobyl accident wreaked.

As a small counterpoint it is only in the last four or five years that lamb reared in certain areas of Snowdonia were declared fit for cosumption. This is…

Bart Janssen

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:57:24 +1300

And this has been tested? No, didn’t think so.

Actually it's happening right now in Japan. The core has (almost certainly) melted in one or both reactors with no breach of the containment vessel.

While nuclear power has it's issues I don't see any value in pretending it's more scary…

BenWilson

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:31:56 +1300

That's like saying that someone drowning in a hydro dam is a power generation accident.

I would say that, if it happened. And I wouldn't see it as sufficient reason to not have hydro, although they should probably look at ways to prevent the same accident happening again.

It wouldn't…

Sacha

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:25:00 +1300

Nuclear power is not a viable option for his country even just on economic grounds – we simply don't have the scale of industry or population to justify building a nuclear capability. It's really expensive regardless of the poisonous and persistent safety and pollution issues.

Seems to be touching some…

Matthew Poole

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:02:59 +1300

The way they’re designed now, they could actually have a core meltdown, and not release harmful levels of radiation. The plant would be fucked, is all.

And this has been tested? No, didn't think so.
Theory is great, in theory. In practice, we haven't got a snowball's chance in hell…

Matthew Poole

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:59:03 +1300

Well, we had a pretty bad one last year in the extraction of coal, most of which is for power plants, I presume.

You presume wrong. The coal from Pike River is mostly used for making steel.
And even if it was used for power generation, that's not a power…

BenWilson

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:50:09 +1300

Yes, there are. NZ has been quite fortunate in having had none of significance.

Well, we had a pretty bad one last year in the extraction of coal, most of which is for power plants, I presume.

An accident at a nuclear plant at one end of NZ, with the…

Matthew Poole

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:36:12 +1300

If I stand at my front door and look north, I can see two petrol stations and an awful lot of light industrial buildings and big box retail. None of which I’d like to be downwind of if they were uncontrollably ablaze after an 8.9 magnitude quake.

When was the…

Craig Ranapia

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:22:35 +1300

What if the wind happens to be blowing in the wrong direction?

If I stand at my front door and look north, I can see two petrol stations and an awful lot of light industrial buildings and big box retail. None of which I'd like to be downwind of if…

Matthew Poole

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:11:37 +1300

There are disaster cases in most power generation sources.

Yes, there are. NZ has been quite fortunate in having had none of significance.

That said, one needs to consider the worst-case scenario when looking at these things. The worst that can go wrong with hydro is a catastrophic dam failure,…

BenWilson

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:00:14 +1300

What if the wind happens to be blowing in the wrong direction?

Then there would be fallout, and bad consequences. It's not 100% safe, of course. But you do need to compare it to other power generation sources over the years to really see how important that is. There are…

Rich Lock

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 08:25:07 +1300

I'm not against them on principle. If they're on the East Coast, even if there was a leak, the likely fallout is going to be heading out across thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean.

You're relying awfully heavily on something you can't even begin to control for disaster limitation, though.…

Russell Brown

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:27:33 +1300

I think the peak accelerations would be a pretty good measure of how close you were. The top at the Heathcote School was 2.2g vertical. But it was so short that the buillding do not have the opportunity to be chucked up.

How much does peak acceleration have to do…

Sacha

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:08:25 +1300

Good news steel structure story of a different sort.

Leaweld Perimeter Solutions is one of the companies undertaking preliminary work in Christchurch, having just signed a contract to supply 17km of 1.8m-high security fencing to be be erected around damaged buildings.

Leaweld managing director Steve Evans said the scale of…

Fooman

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:37:18 +1300

Hi Ross,

NZS3404 (Steel Structures Standard), in discussing seismic loading do take that point:

"The design earthquake forces are derived from the 450 year return period damped uniform spectra...these spectra are indicative of the likely recurrence of the peak acceleration response..."

with the cavets of:

"a) The level of sustained…

James Butler

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:35:14 +1300

While any meltdown in a nuclear reactor is a very serious problem, I would be surprised if there is any loss of life or health effects from the incidents being reported from nuclear stations in the area. I wish I could say the same about oil.

Ross Mason

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:13:59 +1300

Fooman: Some people think it is the ground acceleration is the big killer. Far from it. It is the surface and low frequency waves and how long they persist that send the parapets and buildings into oscillations. Not being in Chch but I suspect witness accounts would say that the…

BenWilson

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:59:55 +1300

Finally. Anyone for Nuclear power in Aotearoa??? We would have ended up the long white shroud after an event like that.

I'm not against them on principle. If they're on the East Coast, even if there was a leak, the likely fallout is going to be heading out across thousands…

Rich Lock

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:56:43 +1300

Possibly also worth noting that it appears to have been the Tsunami that screwed the reactors, rather than the 'quake itself.

The reactors shut down due to the 'quake, and stopped generating electricity. So far so good. Normally they would use the external electrical supply to power cooling and control…

Fooman

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:50:12 +1300

Re Japan: What has impressed me with the hand held footage of the insides of buildings especially is the lack of ceilings and floors crashing down around ears. Those buildings have withstood horrendous shaking and I suspect heritage buildings would truly be dust along with practically all of the city…

BenWilson

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:49:05 +1300

Steven The number of things which I disapprove of in general life that have been godsends in the current circumstances is mind-boggling and a little humbling – from paper plates to federated farmers!

Word. Life isn't meant to be a survival situation. But when it is, you're seldom too concerned…

Matthew Poole

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:48:21 +1300

These events don’t say anything about the safety of nuclear power in non-exceptional situations.

No, they don't. But a seismically-active country such as NZ needs to be cognisant of the risks associated with nuclear power coupled with being earthquake-prone. All the more so when NZ has no real need for…

Rich Lock

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:37:02 +1300

After a 9.0 earthquake here, there wouldn't be enough infrastracture (or people) to worry about any sort of nuclear event.

Depends what you mean by 'here', though, surely? A 9.0 quake in the SI woudn't necessarily bring Auckland to a standstill, same as Tokyo is still more or less functioning,…

Andre Alessi

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:26:54 +1300

Finally. Anyone for Nuclear power in Aotearoa??? We would have ended up the long white shroud after an event like that.

After a 9.0 earthquake here, there wouldn't be enough infrastracture (or people) to worry about any sort of nuclear event. You can't plan for something this massive, any more…

Ross Mason

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:07:33 +1300

DeepRed: From your link: "Henry Ford thought of cars as tools for liberating humanity from the wretchedness of cities" . Yes, they were a means to get OUT of them so that you could visit the countryside.

For any Engineers out there: If a building is built to survive a…

Isabel Hitchings

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:03:09 +1300

Steven The number of things which I disapprove of in general life that have been godsends in the current circumstances is mind-boggling and a little humbling – from paper plates to federated farmers!

Isabel Hitchings

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:40:10 +1300

We have a garden but due to flooding digging a long-drop was impossible (a week post-quake and we still hit water a spade-length below ground). The nearest public park (across two busy roads) has worse drainage than our garden does so would have been a poor choice for a shared…

Steve Barnes

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 11:02:35 +1300

Public parks! I don’t understand not drilling public long drops where required and knocking up temporary, but robust public ablution blocks as a priority drain laying event.

This has bothered me enormously for many reasons.
Having a chemical toilet in your street would actually dis-encourage some from digging their own…

Matthew Poole

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:35:25 +1300

aren't there also eco reasons for preferring say 3-6 storey buildings?

My employer is moving offices in three weeks and our new home will be the greenest building in the country, currently just finishing construction/fit-out. It's 12 storeys high, nine of commercial and three of prime waterfront residential. So clearly…

BenWilson

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:03:40 +1300

Big assumption, there. This is one NZer to whom it would not appeal at all, and I know plenty of others.

Of course, but there will be plenty who do like it too. It's somewhere between suburbia and urban living. So they can keep their car, and do all the…

giovanni tiso

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:43:52 +1300

This is one NZer to whom it would not appeal at all, and I know plenty of others.

One of the things that struck me the most amongst the civil defense instructions on the aftermath of the quake was to deal with the munted sewers problem by 'going in the…

nzlemming

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:34:33 +1300

Definitely moving to low rise inner suburbs would appeal to NZers, not just foreigners more accustomed to super high density living

Big assumption, there. This is one NZer to whom it would not appeal at all, and I know plenty of others. We wouldn’t be living where we are, if…

BenWilson

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:24:13 +1300

Sprawling suburbia on the other hand is marketed as a slice of Ruritania, but in practice it's applied tragedy of the commons – and traffic gridlock is just part of it.

I'm not sure how much "being green" is the reason people live in the suburbs, though. It's because they…

Kumara Republic

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 02:25:25 +1300

All this talk of density or no density reminds me of this New Yorker gem I've posted before.

It's a paradox of urban living – cities chock full of high rises are thought of as ecological nightmares, but in practice are quite green due to high public transit usage. Sprawling…

Steve Parks

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 23:13:34 +1300

Yep. We don't want Christchurch to look like a larger version of Hastings.

BenWilson

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:45:19 +1300

I like tall buildings, and a city no higher than 6 stories sounds painfully boring to me.

It could be. But lots of skyscrapers is no guarantee of interesting architecture.

I really don't see Christchurch being redesigned on some grand scale. NZ just doesn't have enough money for that. The…

Keir Leslie

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:57:28 +1300

I like tall buildings, and a city no higher than 6 stories sounds painfully boring to me.

Stephen Judd

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:38:02 +1300

aren't there also eco reasons for preferring say 3-6 storey buildings?

Can't think of any, apart from shade and wind effects on the street. Bigger buildings are more energy efficient and waste less land.

There could be sound aesthetic and sociological reasons not to go too high, and I certainly…

Sacha

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:21:20 +1300

it's definitely an irrational response to want a low rise-only Christchurch

I agree emotion is playing a big role right now, but aren't there also eco reasons for preferring say 3-6 storey buildings?

Matthew Poole

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:11:21 +1300

didn't the bulk of the post-1976 taller buildings come through pretty well?

Everyone in them got out alive, I believe. Which, as I've said before, is a pass-mark in earthquake engineering, especially when the shake exceeds the design tolerances.

So yes, it's definitely an irrational response to want a low…

Stephen Judd

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 16:43:10 +1300

People can't help their feelings, but didn't the bulk of the post-1976 taller buildings come through pretty well?

Sacha

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 15:52:19 +1300

I'm hearing a lot of people talking about the appeal of a low CBD

Same, but it will require a big re-adjustment of cbd land valuation which I can't see happening under this government – unless they find a way to generously compensate property owners and developers, naturally.

Some more…

philipmatthews

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 15:17:39 +1300

Imagine a Christchurch that only had two- to three-storey buildings, and the church spires and domes sitting above the skyline, and the trees sitting above the buildings. When you looked from the Port Hills you would see the spires and you would see sculptures and you would see tree cover,…

Rich of Observationz

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 15:09:51 +1300

IMHO, the real problem isn't buildings, it's people.

The longer Christchurch remains a disaster area where normal life is impossible, the more people will leave. It'll be the mobile professionals, the young people going to or leaving university (who's going to enroll at Canterbury next year?) who'll up and off…

Sacha

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:47:42 +1300

Local perspectives on rebuilding Christchurch, including this:

In the 1980s and 90s, Britain held five "National Garden Festivals", each intended to kick-start the regeneration of derelict urban land. Urban planner James Lunday, now living in Auckland, was a master planner of the 1988 Glasgow festival, and says a similar event…

3410

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 12:06:59 +1300

Minamisanriku, before and after:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JVpy0L5z7s

Sacha

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 11:41:45 +1300

British architect Norman Foster (responsible for the restoration of the Reichstag and creator of London's iconic 'gherkin' building amongst others) on what's needed to rebuild a shattered Christchurch:

What happens now is going to affect future generations for hundreds of years to come so it has to be blessed with…

giovanni tiso

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 21:30:38 +1300

The event's Facebook page, for those who are on it.

giovanni tiso

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 21:27:34 +1300

Okay: Justine knows two very clever crafters who make jewellery out of broken china and are planning to come down to Christchurch and offer the service free of charge to residents as a way of salvaging some of their cherished things. I bought one of their pieces for Justine a…

Sacha

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 16:13:21 +1300

Nice suggestion on Te Standard of strengthening capacity of local schools to act as Civil Defense community rallying points.

A comment from a foreign national in Japan caught my attention last night. She was a language teacher in a school and remarked that she was in the safest possible building…

Yamis

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:18:14 +1300

Yeah, those pictures are unbelievable. Horrible seeing the vehicles driving and then completely wiped out by that wall of water and debris.

Geoff Lealand

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:06:23 +1300

The most extraordinary, terrifying pictures of the tsunami sweeping across Northern Japan, on BBC News now!!

Kumara Republic

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:57:33 +1300

I'm really hoping that we're going to see a big injection into trades training, effective in the very near future, because the current forecast is that Christchurch will strip the rest of the country bare for a decade and thus thoroughly fuck the entire economy for good.

How bad can…

Martin Lindberg

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:15:51 +1300

Hmm, I guess this could be seen as a return to the normal neighbourhood watch mentality Christchurch was known for before the quake.

"Yes, it's legal, but it still doesn't make it right or acceptable near the homes of decent people. If you have one skank, other skanks will come. It…

NBH

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 11:23:28 +1300

I'm really hoping that we're going to see a big injection into trades training

Well, given that last October – i.e. after the previous earthquake – the Government removed $55million from vocational/trades-focused education provision, I suspect you're hoping in vain.

Matthew Poole

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 11:00:59 +1300

Apparently the reconstruction bill is now heading towards $30b.

Sacha

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 08:42:01 +1300

Minister Brownlee fancies himself as some kind of Robert Moses or Baron Hausmann.

You had me at himself

Kumara Republic

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 03:35:48 +1300

Has anyone considered that Gerry could pull an ECan on CCC entirely of his own volition? No need for that pesky legislate process when you can just write an Order in Council and the GG must sign it into force.

It'd be ironic, given Mayor Parker's role in the ECan…

Sacha

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:55:48 +1300

Has anyone considered that Gerry could pull an ECan on CCC entirely of his own volition?

I imagine that can't have escaped the current Council's attention..

Matthew Poole

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:04:10 +1300

Steve Barnes

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:07:36 +1300

While our esteemed Prime Minister goes of to Play Cricket against a guy with a Hot wife maybe we can take this opportunity to look at actually doing something useful for Chrishchurch.
As I suggested Last Week a relocation package now seems to be likely but…

giovanni tiso

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:57:23 +1300

Check out Arty Bees Bookshop if you get the chance.

And Quilters!

BenWilson

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:56:51 +1300

Let's train more network engineers and software developers then.

Network engineering pretty much is a trade, and yes we need more of it. Software...meh. There's no shortage.