I'd already seen rockfall damage to some Sumner ghosts: RSA, Sumner Borough Council, Ruptured Duck restaurant, Croquet Club, Wakefield Ave. Time for a closer look at Sumner ROCKFALL HAZARD, post Feb 22 Killer Quake & two months post June 13 Quake.
27.08.11. Scarborough view, Sumner rock fall hazard, post June 13 quake. See shipping containers & Anglican Church along Wakefield Ave below cliffs. Clifton beyond
Sat 27.08.11. Nayland St: Below the sea cliff, newly blasted rock dust blew off the fresh cliff face. Cliff rockfalls were cordoned by shipping containers below Sumner cliff. Steel mesh fence cordoned, Sumner Borough Council / Community bldg was gone, a demolition site, opp the fish & chips shop. Another small demolition site was nearby. Ruptured Duck restaurant was gone, a demolition site. Another demolition site by the library.
27.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Sumner Borough Council / Community bldg, demolition site, Nayland St / Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Shipping container cordon, catching quake rock fall below cliff, Nayland St, post June 13 quake
Trekked along Nayland St, Marriner St, Wakefied Ave, taking in ghost houses. Round the cnr, a steel mesh fence / shipping container cordon blocked Nayland St, protecting housing from Clifton rockfalls. Home owners had installed mine roofbolts & steel mesh above garages & new flats. No rockfalls there. Old stone steps above a pavement were cracked, a bench & stone shelter DANGER taped.
27.08.11. Quake damaged garages, Nayland St, post June 13 quake. Mining roof bolts & steel mesh held left side of cliff intact during quakes
27.08.11. Steel mesh fence / shipping container cordon protecting Nayland St housing from rock fall hazard, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Quake cracked garden steps, Nayland St, post June 13 quake
Nayland St / Marriner St: Two storey ghost house, boarded.
Marriner St: Trekked past pubs, restaurants. Demolition site sign:
Farewell Rockvilla
Thank you to the gentleman that opened the front door after the earthquake, and to all out families, friend and neighbours and strangers for your good wishes.
A very special thanks to Sumner Volunteer Fire Brigade, wives and associates.
We've loved living here, it's been a lovely home and we'll miss being "Rockvillians."
Buildings don't make good times, they don't make families and they don't make communities. People do and we live in an awesome community. Go Sumner, Go Christchurch, Go Canterbury. Thanks New Zealand.
Love Rockvillians.
27.08.11. Shipping container cordon. Quake damaged, boarded house, Nayland St / Marriner St, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Blue portaloo, WW1 memorial lights, Sumner Beach, Marriner St, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. House demolition site, Marriner St, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Quake damaged, boarded house, Marriner St, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Farewell Rockvilla sign, demolition site gate, Marriner St, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Demolition site, Ruptured Duck restaurant, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Demolition site by Sumner library, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. DANGER KEEP OUT. Red, plastic tape, steel mesh fence cordon. Demolition site, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
Wakefield Ave: demolition site, steel mesh fence cordon sign:
The
HEADLESS
MEXICAN
OPEN AGAIN
DANGER threat sign hung next to it.
27.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Sumner Borough Council / Community bldg, demolition site, Wakefield Ave / Nayland St, post June 13 quake
Wakefield Ave: Trekked past dusty demolition sites. Beyond the closed garage, starting at rockfall damaged RSA ghosts, a long line of 2 layered, shipping containers cordoned cliff-side of Wakefield Ave below Sumner cliff.
27.08.11. Shipping container cordon, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
Containers protected traffic & walkers from rockfalls & obscured cliff-side ghosts: RSA ghosts; rogue flats construction below Sumner cliff; Croquet Club with new rock fans below the cliff, fallen rocks on croquet lawns. Further on, greystone, All Saints Anglican Church ghost, below Sumner cliff, stood unbroken, between cliff & container cordon.
1995. When we'd stayed at Sumner, we'd attended All Saints Anglican Church. By 2015 the church would be demolished
27.08.11. Quake tilted power pole. Rock fall hazard, Sumner Croquet Club, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake. By 2015 Sumner Croquet Club would be demolished
Looked through gaps between containers at rockfall hazards, Sumner cliff looming over Wakefield Ave. Beyond the church, red stickered, ghost houses below Sumner cliff. At Arnold St junction the long container cordon ended, briefly.
27.08.11. Gaps in shipping container cordon, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Green portaloo, Arnold St / Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
Wakefield St / Denman St junction: Below Richmond Hill bluffs, I trekked past a stable by a cliff-side, rockfall. Capt Thomas Track was closed due to rockfall hazard.
27.08.11. Feb 22 quake, rock fall hazard, cliff opp Denman St / Wakefield Ave junction, post June 13 quake
Wakefield St / Campbell St junction: Shipping containers completely cordoned Wakefield Ave to Paisley St, traffic detouring past Van Asch Deaf Education Centre. Opp Richmond Hill bluffs, I trekked a container / pavement alley beside housing & closed Capt Thomas Courts, boarded, red stickered.
Capt Thomas Courts were Council flats for the poor, elderly, infirm. (Post quakes, boarded, Council flats were seen all over Christchurch). Snapped a City Council Manager letter, example of bullying in Christchurch Council flats. The letter, attached to a Council flat door:
Dear Tenants
Structural Assessment of your Rental Unit
As a result of the Structural Assessment of your rental unit which is in response to the recent earthquake, your unit has been assessed as being damaged. Please note that this does not apply to the whole complex. [The last sentence had a pen line drawn through it].
Entry to your unit is restricted and in the interests of your safety you may only enter to remove your property in company with a Christchurch City Council representative.
We have boarded your unit windows / doors to protect your property. We have also changed your door lock to remove any temptation to continue to occupy the unit.
If you are unable to stay with a relative or friends we suggest you go to a Welfare Centre at either:
*Pioneer Stadium - 75 Lyttelton Street
*Burnside High School - Greers Road [Near our home].
Please contact us on ... to make arrangements to access your unit to remove your possessions and to future accommodation options.
We regret the need for this action and will do our utmost to accommodate you as soon as possible.
Yours faithfully
Kevin Bennett
City Housing Manager
Christchurch City Council
Pioneer Stadium & Burnside HS were both across town, miles from Sumner. Post Feb 22 Killer Quake, media reported about elderly evacuated from rest homes & transported to safer towns, where they were dumped. Families took weeks to find them.
2014. Although Christchurch had more Council flats than any other NZ city, Christchurch deputy mayor, Vicky Buck wished Council would retain Council flats, at ratepayers'expense. As Council had little spare cash post quakes, Council would decide to lease Council flats to a private lessee, to manage upkeep & tenants. In NZ's welfare state, it was NZ govt's responsibility (Housing NZ) to provide state housing for the poor, elderly, infirm. Not Council.
27.08.11. Alley by shipping container cordon, Campbell St / Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake. Closed Evans Pass up Port Hills beyond
27.08.11. Steel mesh / shipping container cordon. Rock fall hazard, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Wakefield Ave view, rock fall hazard, Richmond Hill bluffs, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Rock fall hazard #9, shipping container alley, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Steel mesh / shipping container cordon. Rock fall hazard, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Garden rock fall hazard, red stickered, boarded, Capt Thomas Courts, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Shipping container cordon. Rock fall hazard, Duncan St / Wakefield Ave junction, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Red stickered, closed, Capt Thomas Courts, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake. Scarborough bluffs beyond
27.08.11. Bullying Christchurch City Council letter, Capt Thomas Courts, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake. Tenants were booted out, not only in Sumner, for their own safety
Wakefield Ave: Container gaps were wire meshed, secured by steel cables. Behind containers, fallen rocks lay on Wakefield Ave between Campbell St & Paisley St junctions. Vertical accelerations in the 22.02.11 Killer Quake blasted rocks out of Richmond Hill, rocks falling onto Wakefield Ave & housing beyond. Some Wakefield Ave, fallen rocks were numbered with yellow spray-paint.
27.08.11. Steel mesh / shipping container cordon. Rock fall hazard, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
There were tons of fallen rocks on Sumner border roads & nearby properties below cliffs & bluffs. Post quakes, over the last few months rock blaster teams had roamed Port Hills, dropping loose rocks on container besieged Sumner. Fallen rocks on Wakefield Ave & Heberden Ave: I was unsure whether they'd fallen during quakes, or fallen by human cause: Geotech explosions?
27.08.11. Red stickered house, rock fall hazard #44, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Shipping container cordon, Paisley St / Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
Wakefield Ave beyond Paisley St junction: Below bluffs, I trekked past several red stickered, ghost houses. Capt Thomas Track, DANGER tape closed. On fences & gates, Geovert threat signs:
DANGER
ROCKFALL HAZARD
27.08.11. Council quake notice on Van Asch Deaf Education Centre sign, Wakefield Ave, post June 13 quake
Trekked past Van Asch Deaf Education Centre gate, a Council RECOVERING AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE sign on the school board. Rockfall endangered, Redcliffs School shared school facilities at Van Asch Deaf Education Centre. Early days of our Christchurch stay, I'd gone for 2 job interviews at Van Asch.
Trekked past Sumnervale below Richmond Hill, then headed towards Scarborough bluffs. Past the bus stop by closed Evans Pass, a road sign:
NO ACCESS
TO LYTTELTON
2015. Evans Pass to Lyttelton would still be closed.
2016. Evans Pass would be rebuilt by SCIRT.
Mar 2019. Rebuilt Evans Pass would reopen.
27.08.11. Bottom of closed Evans Pass Rd, post June 13 quake. Scarborough bluffs above
Ocean View Tce: I snapped damaged houses. A team of workmen removed tiles from a damaged roof. I cut down stone steps to Heberden Ave, where the road was obstructed 3x by Scarborough bluffs rockfalls & container cordons, an obstacle course for traffic, but OK for walkers, as container / pavement alleys sidled past two container cordons.
27.08.11. Quake damaged house, Ocean View Tce, post June 13 quake
Heberden Ave: Trekked past new housing, built below Scarborough bluffs, some houses built on cliff-sides, some ghost houses red stickered. Some big houses were squeezed between roadside & cliff-side. Grey quakemire still lay roadside.
27.08.11. Liquefaction mud heap, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Quake damaged house, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
Heberden Ave: New houses were built after we'd left Sumner in 1996. What deals were done by engineers, architects, builders, home owners, Council consenters to build houses in dangerous places below cliffs & bluffs?
27.08.11. Grey portaloo, walkers, shipping container cordon, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Red stickered, quake damaged house, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Cliff side house, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
Heberden Ave / Truro St junction: Containers cordoned Heberden Ave, where two big rocks had fallen from bluffs, smashing through Van Asch Deaf Education Centre steel mesh fence, stopping behind rugby field posts. Parked on Truro St was a boat named EXTREME. I snapped the red stickered Scouts Den opp the rugby field. Some Heberden Ave, fallen rocks were numbered with green spray-paint. Some bluff rocks were spray-painted with pink numbers too.
27.08.11. Van Asch Deaf Education Centre entrance, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Shipping container cordon, Van Asch Deaf Education Centre, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Rock fall hazard #35, Van Asch Deaf Education Centre, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Rock fall hazard, Van Asch Deaf Education Centre rugby field, Truro St / Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Grey portaloo, Truro St, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Red stickered Scouts Den, Truro St / Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
Heberden Ave: ROAD CLOSED. Snapped several red stickered, cliff-side, ghost houses.
27.08.11. Red stickered house, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Shipping container cordon. Rock fall hazard, Truro St / Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Red stickered house, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
Heberden Ave / Campbell St to Heberden Ave / Arnold St junctions: Another container cordon obstructed traffic. A container / pavement alley enabled walkers to pass fallen rocks on the road.
27.08.11. Heberden Ave view, Richmond Hill bluffs, rock fall hazard, post June 13 quake
27.08.11.Shipping container cordon. Rock fall hazard, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake. Scarborough bluffs, rock fall hazard above
27.08.11. Scarborough bluff, rock fall hazard #5, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Quake damaged, cliff side house, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
Heberden Ave: Snapped a small drill-rig on a high Scarborough bluff, used by workmen blasting lethal rocks. A man in his driveway asked, "Why're you taking photographs?"
27.08.11. Drill rig above rock fall hazard, Scarborough bluffs, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
"I write a blog..." He was the second Heberden Ave resident to ask. Jumpy home owners & rockfall hazards. Media had reported burglars snapping abandoned houses before thieving.
27.08.11. Shipping container alley against rock fall hazard, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Shipping container cordon, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake. Scarborough bluffs, rock fall hazard above
27.08.11. Housing protected by rock fall hazard containers, Heberden Ave. Richmond Hill backdrop
Snapped more red stickered, ghost houses, built above & below cliffs. Passed several colourful portaloos, orange, red, green, grey. Sumner in deep shit.
27.08.11. Cliff top housing, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Red portaloo, cliff side housing, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
Heberden Ave: Passed a small roadside rockfall by Sumner Tennis & Squash Club, while people played afternoon tennis below Scarborough bluffs. By roadside oil drums & a sewage smelly stream, a walkway was closed below Scarborough & Sumner cliff-side, new housing. Council threat sign on a fence:
TRACK CLOSED
DUE TO
ROCKFALL HAZARD
Hand-written notice below the Council sign:
Rock stabilization work in progress above.
To arrange access please contact
... Thanks for your patience.
Post quakes, many Port Hills tracks would be closed for years, due to rockfall hazard. Example: Godley Head Track would only reopen in Mar 2013, other tracks, still closed. That would leave frustrated walkers, mountain bikers, rock climbers in Christchurch.
27.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Rock fall hazard, Sumner Tennis & Squash Club, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Track Closed due to Rock fall Hazard, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
Heberdon Ave / Wiggens St to Heberden Ave / Nayland St junctions: A huge rockfall blocked Heberden Ave, containers blocking traffic, cliff vegetation crushed, red stickered, ghost houses. DANGER KEEP OUT, red, plastic tape hung between containers. Fallen rocks were truck size. I slipped between containers for a closer look at fallen rocks by red stickered, ghost housing. Creepy feeling again, stillness, no birds sang.
Months later, Council would red sticker containers, trying to stop people going behind containers. Council wasn't so safety conscious pre- quakes, allowing quake prone bldgs to stay unstrengthened for decades. Never mind Council's safety-complacency post 04.09.10 Darfield Quake & 26.12.10 Boxing Day Quake. Business as usual then.
27.08.11. Quake tilted power poles, grey portaloo, shipping container cordon, Wiggins St / Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Red stickered house, Wiggins St / Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Wiggins St view, container cordon. Rock fall hazard, Scarborough bluffs above Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
Detoured through Sumner to Nayland St again. Chocolate shop ghost below the cliff at the end of Nayland St, closed. Edwin Mouldey Track up the cliff to Scarborough Rd, closed.
27.08.11. Container cordon. Rock fall hazard by Edwin Mouldey Track, Nayland St / Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake. Closed chocolate shop on cnr
Heberden Ave: Trekked the container alley, cordoning rocks & obstructing traffic, to Scarborough Reserve, roadside stream sewage smelly.
27.08.11. Shipping container cordon by chocolate shop, Nayland St / Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Shipping container alley by rock fall hazard, below Edwin Mouldey Track, Heberden Ave, post June 13 quake
The Esplanade: Trekked from high tide Scarborough Beach to Sumner Beach. Cave Rock was plastic, DANGER taped, steel mesh fence cordoned, rockfall hazard, entry forbidden to Sumner Beach cave. West side of Cave Rock, rocks had fallen onto the beach. Rocks had fallen by the cave mouth too.
Steel mesh fence cordon, threat sign:
HEALTH WARNING
CONTAMINATED WATER...
POLLUTED
WATER
PLEASE AVOID
CONTACT...
Many of those threat signs were seen along riverbanks & Avon / Heathcote Estuary shore.
Another threat sign:
DANGER
DO NOT
ENTER
LOOSE AND
FALLING ROCK
27.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Rock fall hazard, Cave Rock, Sumner Beach, post June 13 quake
Concrete paving, cracked by Cave Rock & a nearby restaurant. At one place by Cave Rock, quakes had angle-raised 10cm thick, concrete paving by half a metre. Beach retaining wall, broken. Road tarseal, cracked. Sinkhole, orange, plastic, road cone cordoned near Jutland, WW1 memorial plinth, also cracked.
27.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake raised concrete slab, Cave Rock, post June 13 quake
POLLUTED WATER threat signs hung on Cave Rock steel mesh fence cordon, as Avon River & Heathcote River were open sewers, sewage pipes trashed.
27.08.11. DANGER DO NOT ENTER. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake damaged Sumner Beach retaining wall, Cave Rock, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Grey / blue portaloo. Steel mesh fence cordoned, rock fall hazard, Cave Rock, Sumner Beach
As my Samsung camera battery was low, I returned the next day Sunday with Leah, snapping Cave Rock, trekking Sumner again. Sumner containerized valley sides were unique, nothing else like trashed Sumner in broken Christchurch.
27.08.11. Quake sinkhole, quake cracked tarseal, Cave Rock, Sumner Beach, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Quake damaged restaurant, Cave Rock, Sumner Beach, post June 13 quake
27.08.11. Quake cracked, WW1 Jutland memorial plinth, Cave Rock, Sumner Beach, post June 13 quake
Nearly a year post Sept 4 Darfield Quake & 6 months post Feb 22 Killer Quake, all Sumner roads I trekked had roadside portaloos, showing Sumner's underground sewage pipes were ruined.
27.08.11. Beige portaloo, Burgess St, post June 13 quake
When I checked the following Sumner streets, Nayland St, Marriner St, Wakefield Ave, Heberden Ave, Esplanade , CERA's Landcheck website classified them all white zone, "mapping still underway." Despite all Council red stickers & rockfall tonnage, CERA mappers were slow! CERA would delay many Port Hills zonings and CERA / Council conflicts would increase.
*Trekked Nayland St, Marriner St, Wakefield Ave, Ocean View Tce, Heberden Ave, Esplanade. 179 snaps.
Coda:
The Press, 06.09.11 would report recent zoning changes: "Areas that have been rezoned green include most of Lyttelton, Sumner, Scarborough, Redcliffs, Mt Pleasant, Cashmere, Heathcote, Westmorland and Kennedys Bush. However, large parts of Cashmere, Lyttelton, Sumner and Clifton Hill remain white, particularly streets further up the hillside..." White zones would have to wait for more geotech jabbering & CERA delays.
Sun 14.02.16. Valentines Day, M5.7 quake. Rockfalls at Godley Head, Sumner's Richmond Hill, Peacocks Gallop.
In future years Council would do a lot of work removing fallen rocks & stabilizing cliffs & bluffs, protecting against rockfalls below Sumner cliffs & bluffs:
Peacocks Gallop: Ghost houses would be demolished above marine cliffs. Rocks would be blasted from the bluff opposite Shag Rock. Rocky benches & bunds would be created below the cliffs. Some cliffs would have rock-bolts inserted, steel mesh suspended from top to bottom. Shipping containers would be removed.
Nayland St / Wakefield Ave: Richmond Hill bluff would be stabilized by rock blasting, a rocky bund created below the cliff.
Wakefield Ave: Below Richmond Hill, all ghost bldgs would be demolished cliff-side, like RSA, Croquet Club, Anglican Church... A rocky bund & rock-filled gabion baskets would be created cliff-side, like at Denman St intersection. Over time, some rock-filled gabion baskets would grow wild grasses, covering rocks & steel. Shipping containers would be removed & a steel fence would be erected in front of the rocky bund & rock filled gabion baskets.
Heberden Ave: Below Scarborough, some ghost houses would be demolished cliff-side of Heberden Ave, some houses would remain. Cliff rock- bolts & suspended steel mesh would protect some housing against rockfall. Shipping containers would be removed.
Heberden Ave / Wiggens St to Nayland St: Ghost houses would be demolished both sides of Heberden Ave. House demolitions would continue below Scarborough cliffs to Nayland St. That section of Heberdon Ave would be closed for good. A grassy park would be created, cnr chocolate shop would be demolished. Shipping containers would be removed. Edwin Mouldey Track would stay closed.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
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