Public Address | Cafe | Speaker: Christchurch: how did it come to this?

Just thinking

Sun, 10 May 2015 19:15:29 +1200

This is of course corporate welfare, but just imagine if this concept was extended to first home buyers. Build your house and pay for the land when you sell it. Land is the issue, this could be part of the solution.

Hebe

Sat, 09 May 2015 16:48:39 +1200

both sites I think are land that the council bought when it bailed out David Henderson –

Yep. The pre-quake Parker council. Right now they need to get rid of some land so it produces rates income rather than being a maintenance cost.

Ian Dalziel

Sat, 09 May 2015 12:27:31 +1200

give me land, lotsa land...
And now govt/Fletchers will drop some housing into the south CBD.
Such a sweetheart deal...
Fletcher will only pay for the land once the homes are sold.
The sites are on Welles Street, and on the corner of Colombo and Brougham Street.
wonder how much…

Sacha

Sat, 09 May 2015 11:55:44 +1200

And now govt/Fletchers will drop some housing into the south CBD.

Steve Barnes

Sat, 09 May 2015 11:44:00 +1200

so much being decided and undecided that it is easy to not know about huge chunks of the city

This seems to be the Modus operandi for Right Wing powermongers, keep 'em guessing, keep contradicting yourself, keep 'em confused.
It is a shame the tragedy of Christchurch is but another…

Steve Barnes

Sat, 09 May 2015 11:36:41 +1200

which you can “read all about” here.

Page not found
The page you requested cannot be found
And that is from their own link on their own site. Hmmmm. Let me know when CCC have organized a pissup in a brewery and I will arrange venue and refreshments.
I did…

Hebe

Fri, 08 May 2015 22:39:35 +1200

· The Residential Demonstration project won’t go ahead,

I missed that (so much being decided and undecided that it is easy to not know about huge chunks of the city). That is a shame: it looked like an interesting starting point. Here's a link to the original plan
https://ccdu.govt.nz/projects-and-precincts/residential-demonstration-project

Joe Wylie

Fri, 08 May 2015 22:16:09 +1200

Share an Idea, which purported to involve ordinary citizens in shaping post-quake Chch, was never anything more than a cynical PR hoax. According to the CC Council site the wretched thing won an international award, which you can “read all about” here. Yet another spin doctors’ picnic at the citizens'…

Steve Barnes

Fri, 08 May 2015 20:42:45 +1200

About that Convention Centre
Let’s put this project budget into perspective. $284 million is not a small amount of money. It is more than twice as much as Ngai Tahu was paid for centuries of historical grievances.

This $284 million is being spent on a dubious project while…

Hebe

Fri, 08 May 2015 15:13:19 +1200

Cr Ali Jones says homeless "not our problem".

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/68347499/ali-jones-homeless-people-not-christchurch-city-councils-problem

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 08 May 2015 09:38:32 +1200

Smart choices for Christchurch – A Tale of Two Networks.
The Fabians would like to invite you to the above event which will be held on Tuesday 19 May, 7:00-9:00pm, The Oak Room, The Atrium, 455 Hagley Avenue Christchurch
(by the Netball courts)

The Christchurch City Council has developed spending…

Hebe

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 08:25:00 +1200

..and then there is this:

This happens weeks before, supposedly, the Canterbury Home Repair Programme/Fletcher’s/EQR winds down.

Which also happens a few weeks before new earthquake building standards are finally enforced, which will drive up residential repair and rebuild costs even further. Coincidence? Call me a cabbage, but no.

In…

Joe Wylie

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 07:45:38 +1200

First do no further harm – doesn’t seem to be part of EQC’s operating system – they had one job! To do the right thing by insured homeowner and turned it into save money for the Government and enjoy a bit of bullying on the side – tossers – not…

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 07:09:25 +1200

..and then there is this:
The Earthquake Commission (EQC) is trying to shut down adverse findings about its top engineer Graeme Robinson to avoid reopening his 2500 Canterbury assessments.
EQC is worried the findings, if allowed to stand, will have "serious and far reaching implications" for itself and other insurers.…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 22:03:07 +1200

Appreciate that Megan Woods has taken the trouble to provide an email heads up and a template submission for the narrow window of opportunity to make one's voice heard on the wretched shenanigans surrounding ECAN. That said, Woods has been something of a Loch Ness monster in her own electorate,…

Sacha

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 20:21:57 +1200

If only the Press would get stuck into central govt with the ease it seems to lay into the council

Guess they see where the real power lies, eh. Cowards.

Hebe

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 16:43:30 +1200

Midday: that's evil.

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 16:14:15 +1200

Submissions close tomorrow.
To be more precise they close at midday tomorrow:
http://www.ccc.govt.nz/thecouncil/policiesreportsstrategies/ltccp/makeasubmission.aspx

Hebe

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 15:17:02 +1200

Reminder to Christchurch people: still time to put in your submissions on the council's long-term plan: keeping the assets and the rest. Have your say.

Submissions close tomorrow.

Robert Fox

Sat, 25 Apr 2015 13:30:27 +1200

Late to this, but a great piece about the Hobson's choice presented to the people of Christchurch and their council. It's hardly surprising that once motivated people now shrug their shoulders and just want to "get things fixed" after the litany of bullshit and deceit presented to them by CERA,…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 17:13:42 +1200

Stadium rock...
The joy in stamping your feet on the semiperm scaffolding to create such a din as to put the opposition kicker off . Of course the overpriced draught beer just adds to the experience.
Aaaah – those were two of the worst aspects to me, I was appalled…

Just thinking

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 16:48:22 +1200

Ian you've missed the true joy of the stadium, & its great theater. Where else do you ignore the dancing girls and stand cheering for the horseman. The joy in stamping your feet on the semiperm scaffolding to create such a din as to put the opposition kicker off . Of…

Lilith __

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 22:53:59 +1200

In the long run (i.e beyond the 2019 debt hump that we’re being massaged through at the moment) though, turning productive capital into unproductive capital (i.e a white elephant stadium etc) will mean that rates will inevitably have to rise to cover the loss of income. Asset sales aren’t magic…

Alfie

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 13:48:32 +1200

When we asked for a Prime Minister who was ’in touch’ with NZ – this wasn’t what we wanted…

Don't worry Ian. That's not really our PM fondling women in public. He was wearing his Creepy John hat at the time.

He does seem to have some sort of ponytail…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 13:38:27 +1200

Gag! in both senses….
The story about Brownlee seeking the valued input and advice of the well qualified Chchch public on Red Zone payouts has disappeared from the front page of The Press site despite their telling me that the site was totally Chchch-centric – it is now buried 3…

Sacha

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 13:28:19 +1200

great news

Keir Leslie

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 13:12:14 +1200

Lianne didn't run as a Labour candidate – it's not really like we have any control over someone who explicitly ran as an independent.

Joe Wylie

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 11:07:18 +1200

here’s what Labour thinks about the Common Sense Plan:

Thanks, but that's Ruth Dyson, who seems to speak for Labour's other Chch MPs. Given that Lianne Dalziel appears to be currently as closely aligned with Councillor Raf Manji as she is with her supposed fellow Labourites, and that Manji has…

Rob Stowell

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 09:41:49 +1200

Good news on the stadium. Everything about the grand new proposal was wrong. So with a little wriggliness we can slip out of it, and govt can save face by 'blaming' the insurers.
Looks like there's little or no chance of changing the secretive gamble (and in my opinion, the…

Keir Leslie

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 09:27:26 +1200

Not sure the People's Choice and the Labour Party are very distant on this issue – here's what Labour thinks about the Common Sense Plan: The Common Sense Plan for Christchurch released by The People’s Choice today is a welcome relief from the shallow debate about rates rises versus asset…

Hebe

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 09:14:32 +1200

The PM signals that the CCC will not be held to the cost-share agreement in the last three pars of this morning’s Press story http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/67933951/rugby-union-ok-with-possible-lancaster-return

Prime Minister John Key said he spoke with Dalziel about planning issues on Sunday.

“Of course there are hopes and expectations that all this infrastructure…

Greg Jackson of the South

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 07:42:38 +1200

Jb As I noted in passing in the article the Green Party here floated the idea of a Christchurch quake tax and was ignored by the Government.At the time soon after the worst of our quake cycle when public support was intense it would have been very easy to implement.Now…

Sacha

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 07:27:55 +1200

it would have been the easiest of sells to a willing electorate

Yet look what happened when the Greens sugested a dedicated eqnz tax.

Joe Wylie

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 06:12:19 +1200

James Dann has a brief follow-up question about the convention centre.

After being sacrificed as Labour’s throwaway Ilam candidate, Dann’s freedom to speak out candidly on post-quake issues seems to require that he distance himself from the Party. Curiously enough, so do the six Peoples Choice councillors with their “[[http://www.commonsenseplan.co.nz/|Common…

jb

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 02:05:28 +1200

It surprises me that the Government didn't introduce a solidarity tax after the 2011 earthquake in the same way that Germany did after reunification to finance the longterm infrastructure upgrade. Both events were unforeseen (in their rapidity) and initially unquantifiable in their scope. (The cost of reunification is around €1…

Keir Leslie

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 23:58:57 +1200

In the long run (i.e beyond the 2019 debt hump that we're being massaged through at the moment) though, turning productive capital into unproductive capital (i.e a white elephant stadium etc) will mean that rates will inevitably have to rise to cover the loss of income. Asset sales aren't magic…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 21:50:44 +1200

Chch is being forced to build facilities that Chch people don’t want and haven’t agreed to, with money they don’t have.
This used to be called extortion,
now it's called Central Government Planning

Rob Stowell

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 21:16:45 +1200

Chch is being forced to build facilities that Chch people don’t want and haven’t agreed to, with money they don’t have
It is sickening. But I'm going to borrow this phrase, and use it in submitting to the council on the long-term plan. Love to see it on all the…

Sacha

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 21:08:29 +1200

The impotent rage I feel about what John Key's government is doing to it is beyond words.

And they can't do it without local collaborators: those who will sell out their city for personal gain.

tussock

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 20:24:14 +1200

The important thing here is that Jerry's personal housing portfolio rises in price. If building a convention centre will do that, then you will build a bloody convention centre and you will like it.

The fact the people who'll be building it have already donated to the National party through…

Hebe

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 19:41:54 +1200

Chch is being forced to build facilities that Chch people don’t want and haven’t agreed to, with money they don’t have.

Yes. While the infrastructure — roads, water pipes, sewerage system — is going to take 30 years to fix. I could accept — just — selling the airport and…

Lilith __

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 18:49:36 +1200

my understanding is that the council legal advice is that CCC cannot backtrack on the cost-sharing agreement with the government, no matter how much it and Christchurch people want to renegotiate it.

Gerry Brownlee could wave his hand and it would all go away. Except he won’t, that’s why he’s…

Lilith __

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 18:45:49 +1200

all points many have been making since day one

It's not like any of this has crept up on us. The National government cancelled our regional democracy and effectively also our city council via Gerry Brownlee, CERA, and the CCDU.

Anyone with half a brain can see the slow-motion trainwreck…

Steve Curtis

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 17:08:12 +1200

Just went through the backup story on the proposed Christchurch Frightful...sorry Convention centre.

The thing that sprung to mind, would they at some stage announce a 'cornerstone tenant' that would take up a chunk of the space. And that tenant would be:
Christchurch Casino !
Location Location, as the real…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 16:34:27 +1200

And now this new piece of political theatre:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/67920438/public-input-sought-on-redzone-compensation
The Government will consult the public on a possible revised compensation offer for some Christchurch red-zoners.
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has asked for a recovery plan to look at the Crown offers to owners of vacant, commercial and uninsured land…

Kumara Republic

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 13:39:16 +1200

Throwing debt money into huge new infrastructure (convention centres, stadia) is ‘good for the economy’ in the same way sugar is good for a diabetic.

It seems to be a form of the Broken Window Fallacy, or its more recent descendant the Shock Doctrine.

Sacha

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 13:18:49 +1200

James Dann has a brief follow-up question about the convention centre.

Hebe

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 13:07:14 +1200

Throwing debt money into huge new infrastructure (convention centres, stadia) is ‘good for the economy’ in the same way sugar is good for a diabetic. My choice would be to spend the minimum on well-planned and coordinated essential infrastructure, and otherwise let the Christchurch re-build happen more slowly, driven by…

Russell Brown

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 13:06:33 +1200

Downsides like the collapse of public infrastructure, yes.

It also didn’t work. Deficits continued after Proposition 58 because there was no conceivable means of enforcement.

The major cause of California’s screaming fiscal problems was 1978’s Proposition 13, by which a bunch of mostly older property owners screwed the property tax…

Sacha

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 12:28:47 +1200

When I lived in California the state (and I think cities) were legally required to bring in a balanced budget, and citizens were required to vote for any increases, this put continual pressure on the politicians to at least consider the possibility of moderation (mind you there were severe downsides…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 11:02:09 +1200

Having gone to a recent Crusaders game at the new 'temporary' stadium, I doubt I'd repeat the exercise there or at any other stadium – covered or not – having a developing cold probably didn't help, but I just didn't enjoy it at all – I've been 'seduced' by replays…

Kumara Republic

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 10:51:57 +1200

Is this another version of the common house insurance dispute, the council wants it restored ‘as new’ while the insurer wants to make it ‘fit for purpose’.

Remember the old 1980s NZI advert that went, "What do you mean, half a pyramid?"

Steve Curtis

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 10:37:48 +1200

"Lancaster Park was sum insured for $143m but three loss adjustment firms had each determined the stadium could be restored for less than $50m, Sole said.
The reinsurers are most unlikely to agree to pay Christchurch City Council almost three times that amount just so the council can demolish the…

Rob Stowell

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 10:05:28 +1200

People's Choice have outlined their alternative. Important to keep hammering: there is an alternative.
Throwing debt money into huge new infrastructure (convention centres, stadia) is 'good for the economy' in the same way sugar is good for a diabetic. My choice would be to spend the minimum on well-planned and…

Paul Campbell

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 09:55:49 +1200

Christchurch isn’t the only city in this situation – though at least it has a good excuse – Dunedin’s seen rates increases way above inflation for the past decade, often close to 10% mostly because of the council’s unability to stop spending, the stadium debacle has committed us to at…

Keir Leslie

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 09:35:54 +1200

I think the narrative of forced-into-asset-sales is quite rosy.

Sure, there are some councillors who feel they have to make tough decisions – and the People's Choice councillors are well aware that partial asset sales may need up being part of mix – but there's also a strong ideological push…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:32:42 +1200

The Geneva Convention Centre and the war on Chchch…
Christchurch Convention Centre: The closer I look the less it makes sense.
all points many have been making since day one – good to see them all in the one corral.

the Govt has been very quiet about the CC for…

Russell Brown

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:02:44 +1200

And in this morning's Press: the historic Canterbury Provincial Chambers will be locked up and sitting until there is $108m found to fix and strengthen them – which will be at least 10 years

Russell Brown

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 07:47:55 +1200

Thanks Greg.

For another angle – and to fully underline the state of mystery and confusion in which Christchurch has been placed – readers may also wish to make the time to read Barnaby Bennett’s new post on the status of the Christchurch Convention Centre decreed by the government.

See:…

Public Address

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 07:47:55 +1200

Discussion from blog post.