Southerly by David Haywood

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Southerly: Tower Insurance Have Some Bad News For You

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  • Hebe,

    I heard that Brownlee keeps trying to resign as earthquake minister. Maybe they all want to resign; I would -- what a bloody awful job to do.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Islander,

    What happens when you resign from a given post?
    ONGOING RESPONSIBILITIES?

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

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Hebe,

    I heard that Brownlee keeps trying to resign as earthquake minister. Maybe they all want to resign; I would -- what a bloody awful job to do.

    There's been a huge amount of genuine courage and goodwill displayed since the quakes. You only need to have attended the meetings of disaffected red and orange zoners - something Brownlee and Sutton have consistently failed to do - in Avonside, Kaiapoi, Bexley, and most recently in the botanic gardens on the Sunday before last, to realise the appetite that exists for constructive engagement if only people are accorded the simple respect of being fully informed on matters that vitally affect them. Many of these people are suffering more than Brownlee is ever likely to from the burden of his wretched portfolio.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Hebe, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Joe, my comment was not intended to minimise anyone's suffering. I don't agree with much of Brownlee's actions or beliefs, but I do not wish those eq-related posts on anyone.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Hebe,

    I don't agree with much of Brownlee's actions or beliefs, but I do not wish those eq-related posts on anyone.

    With so many lives turning to custard for a whole heap of quake-related reasons, isn't that a bit like fretting about whether grass feels pain if it's walked on? Because whether or not Brownlee is prone to occasional Garden of Gethsemane moments about being lumbered with something he's plainly not very good at, there are others who'd be more than happy to step in given the opportunity. Clayton Cosgrove, for example, who happens to be his shadow opposite ("for my sins"), and has been on the case since before the CERA legislation was passed.

    Brownlee, and those whose interests he represents, pushed from the very beginning to consolidate as much power as possible in his own hands. His present situation is very much of his own making. The reason that there are so many resignation rumours about is a measure of CERA's failure to communicate.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • merc,

    Hat tip Interest.co.nz http://www.interest.co.nz/property/56362/opinion-hugh-pavletich-sees-political-circus-running-rebuild-and-objects-taking-garde
    Suggests that if insurers will not insure city rebuild, city will have to be built elsewhere, but there is nowhere nearby allowed for that density.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Hebe, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Sorry; I'm incapable of rational debate after 12 hours of domestic disaster. I'll re-engage when you remove that hex...

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Steve Barnes,

    Gobsmacked...
    Kiwi in line for big payout on quake-damaged office tower

    Christchurch's tallest office tower - the PricewaterhouseCoopers building - will be demolished and its landlord Kiwi Income Property Trust will get a big insurance payout to compensate it, pleasing analysts who follow the stock.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    Hebe:
    No idea what you mean by that, any suggestion of malice on my part is ill-founded. All the best in your troubles.

    Steve Barnes:
    Funny how insurance is the ruin of so many small players, but cause for dancing in the streets for those above a certain critical mass.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Hebe, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Hebe:
    No idea what you mean by that, any suggestion of malice on my part is ill-founded. All the best in your troubles

    Damn done it again; not getting at you. Just that straight after my post last night life got rocky and I'm not able to engage in incisive, debate-adding posts today. I do agree with you in more ways than not; one of the tragedies has been the way good people with valid ideas have been shut out of the recovery "loop' because they have divergent political views to the Govt and council (Cosgrove being a prime example).

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Hebe,

    Thanks Hebe, wish you a happy back on track.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Great Campbell Live story on architectural historian and TV presenter Kevin McCloud visiting Christchurch (6 min clip).

    He expains beautifully at about 2m30 why a 7 storey limit makes sense. And towards the end at a meeting with residential redzoners, raises the idea of setting building standards street by street.

    I can see a place for Dr Haywood's floating foundations..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • merc,

    Awe. So many good points there, will they listen?

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Just thinking, in reply to Hebe,

    Brownlee bowed to Cosgrove with the foolish Kaiapoi development inside the 50 db CIA zone.

    It's really not a Blue, Red or even Green thing. It's our city dying at the hands of central Govt playing off the population (Auckland) vs 20/25% of the GDP or Christchurch.

    New Zealand will survive the Canterbury Quakes but will Christchurch?

    Kyoto hasn't. Tokyo took up its slack. Japan didn't lose but Kyoto did.

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report

  • Hebe, in reply to Just thinking,

    New Zealand will survive the Canterbury Quakes but will Christchurch?

    Christchurch will survive, but not in its old physical form and with its old power structure. Most of us are doing quite fine without the CBD now; we've adapted with varying sorts and degrees of inconvenience and loss along the way.

    And the influx of money to come into the city over the next 20 years from the foreign reinsurers' bank accounts and NZ government cash will give the city a large economic boost -- though I fear that on the whole the locals will get the trickle-down at the level of labouring jobs while the big profits go to the players in the construction industry and land developers. The question is how long it will be before that flow-through starts, and how many people will have to leave in order to survive; that depends on the insurers.

    The demographics of Christchurch are changing already: skilled younger people are moving in and retireds are moving out or planning to. So that will be interesting.

    I had hoped that the silver lining of the Nats being in power would be that at least we had a PM and Finance Minister who could speak the insurers' language and would put cutting a deal with them at the forefront of their operations in the recovery effort. I am sorely disappointed in that; National has literally sold the red zoners down the river.

    I don't think Christchurch will die; and it will depend on which village hub you live in how you view the city; we residents no longer have common experiences in our day-to-day lives. The CBD has died as was; it's matter of reinvention not rebuild.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Hebe,

    we had a PM and Finance Minister who could speak the insurers' language and would put cutting a deal with them at the forefront

    They did. The results speak volumes about whose interests they're working for.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Hebe, in reply to Sacha,

    Yes. Groan. But for my own sanity I try to keep looking for the noble side of human nature in all this.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Hebe,

    Charitably, they're merely incompetent.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Just thinking,

    And the influx of money to come into the city over the next 20 years from the foreign reinsurers' bank accounts

    I hope so, but I fear CERA can order demolition, but not Insurers payouts.

    A Great many buildings were either needlessly demolished or demolished to gain access to demolish a larger building.

    If the building being insured was able to be repaired or was not required to be demolished at all, why pay a cent?

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Just thinking,

    why pay a cent?

    Deals were done.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Just thinking,

    pray tell?

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Just thinking,

    What do you reckon Brownlee, English, Joyce, Key et al were negotiating for months about with the international and local insurance industry? Trade-offs were made. Responsibilities and irresponsibilities were agreed.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Sacha,

    To be fair, any government would have had to negotiate - Pavletich despite his daft advocacy of sprawl is right that the insurers are pivotal. One less wedded to 'daddy knows best' might have been more open about it. Practically, perhaps even shared state-funded geotech info with residents as well as insurance corporates.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Just thinking,

    That's not the word around the cordon.

    The word on the wire is Christchurch is a trade off for Chinese Dairy interests to "invest". This isn't about current buildings or owners or business and certainly not an international insurance payout over and above policy conditions.

    It's a rock bottom sale of banrupted vacant land over broken (nonexistant) sewage systems to offshore interests to keep the price of dairy up.

    This is coming from building/business owners who want to stay but are being pushed and can't see a net below.

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report

  • Just thinking,

    Building for earth quakes is safer and more economic than gambling/insuring against them.

    That has to be a real lesson, forget EQ insurance and strengthen buildings.

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report

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