Posts by Lilith __
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Hebe,
I want people in this city to work together, bringing their own perspectives and strengths to create something better than before. For that to work we are all (and I definitely include me because I can be great at smart comments without being constructive) going to have to show generosity of spirit even when we don’t want to and when it seems too hard.
I’m not being negative for the sake of it. I want better things, and I think I've elaborated what some of them are.
I think respect has to go both ways. I feel that Key and Brownlee et al. not only don’t respect people in my situation, but also don’t respect my rights as a citizen in a democracy. Along with every other citizen, I deserve to have my views heard and heeded. The government is supposed to work for us, and for our collective best interests. I don’t think they are.
I want to be positive about Christchurch’s future, but I’m distressed and frightened by the lack of proper democratic process in the plans for our new CBD. As Leigh said above, it’s the people who are going to use or not use the new facilities that will determine success or failure. If we’re not part of the process, we won’t get the city we need, and the city centre will die. People, not buildings, are the lifeblood.
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Capture: Two Tales of a City, in reply to Gudrun Gisela,
Corner of Madras and Armagh
Nice to see all those smiling faces! And I also love the one of Gloucester Street full of lego-people. Thanks for taking these, Gudrun.
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Hebe,
Lilith and Sacha: This is not and was not an ideological game. I repeat: It is not generally understood yet how very close Christchurch was to a complete economic collapse in the months after February. Start with that premise and detail what you would do better. And how about a little generosity to those with diverging views, even if the National Party do believe different things to you?
Hebe, nothing I’ve said here was in any way meant as an attack on you. We obviously have divergent views, and we’ve both expressed them.
I’m sorry if I’ve offended you. These are issues we all feel strongly about.
I feel particularly strongly about Gerry Brownlee’s repeated refusals to try to fix the rental housing shortage. I had to shift early this year, and I was so, so lucky to find something suitable that I could afford, after much searching. That could have been me, sleeping in a car. Except I don’t have a car!
So the lack of action on the rental shortage, and the crazy EQC prioritising of houses with minor damage, affects me not just ideologically, but deeply and personally.
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Capture: The Night Time Is The Right Time, in reply to JacksonP,
Balloon farm
Balloons and cumulus, nice. :-)
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Capture: The Night Time Is The Right Time, in reply to JacksonP,
Even lighter now. ;-)
Yeah, the moon's so bright! ;-)
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Capture: Two Tales of a City, in reply to Gudrun Gisela,
From the corner of Madras and Armagh Street.
Now there's an exciting place to stand!
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Hebe,
Key, English and Joyce, and Brownlee’s business-type approach of “Here’s the problem. Deal to it” worked perfectly.
John Key’s disaster response:
And while I’m sure the short-term business subsidies were vital, it wasn’t exactly rocket-science to see that they were needed.
IMHO all kudos to the council workers and to the volunteers for the immediate and lengthy spade-wielding.
Key et al. were in a position to send funds for business, that’s taxpayer money after all. If that’s all they’ve achieved, I’m a little disappointed. And now they’re ordering us what to do and telling us to pay for it ourselves! Given we pay their salaries, I expect a bit more leadership and productivity from this govt.
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A nice opinion piece from Rod Oram.
Lots of people in Christchurch want sustainability. But the council and the Government will do nothing to help achieve that beyond "encouraging" property developers to improve energy efficiency. Failure is certain, because existing New Zealand building codes, energy efficiency standards, designs and materials are so far behind world best practice and the Government has no intention of improving them.
If you want a glimpse of what zero-energy housing looks like, Beddington in Britain is a good example. Built more than a decade ago, it is described at wikipedia.org/wiki/BedZED.
If Christchurch recreated itself to those high, essential standards, and did so in distinctive New Zealand ways, it would attract all the international attention and investment it needs.
It would become rich and sustainable in every sense of the words - economically, socially, culturally and environmentally. It would become a global leader for the 21st century.
The Beddingdon development is here.
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Capture: The Night Time Is The Right Time, in reply to JacksonP,
where should I put my Silo Park 1st year celebrations shots?
Turn up the blue and we'll pretend it was night-time? ;-)
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I remember the halcyon days when merely widening a road in Chch took 20 years of debate!!
That sort of consultation is arguably too slow. But we got a decision that was carefully crafted. :-)