CERA Regime. Snowy CBD Demolitions

Snowy, northern CBD demolitions focus. Mon 15.08.11. Six months post Feb 22 Killer Quake, Christchurch CBD was still occupied by CERA & NZDF. CBD was still steel mesh fence cordoned, checkpointed by NZDF soldiers at various crossings. Although 3 months before, on May 1 the National State of Emergency ended, NZDF soldiers still banned citizens from Christchurch cordoned CBD. A favoured few were allowed entry, CERA contractors, demolishers. Whenever I saw the desolate CBD cordon, more demolitions had happened. Post Sept 4 Darfield Quake, demolishers had demolished ghosts, then speeded up demolitions post Feb 22 Killer Quake.

Post National State of Emergency handover by Civil Defence, CERA was already threatening cyclists riding past fallen rock cordons on Summit Rd with the law & threatening business persons to make swifter demolitions decisions. Never mind insurers were obstacles to fast demolitions & rebuilds, moaning about risk. Why didn't CERA kick insurers' asses?

Council recently published its draft Central City Plan, a snow job for CBD rebuild on quake ruined, old CBD swampland. Mayor Parker & councillors wanted to rebuild a smaller, greener CBD.

Considering 1 000s of people having to abandon their red zone, ghost houses, then buy land & rebuild, Council's idea of an expensive light rail was mad. Running a fast bus system was a priority. My adult sons spent hours wasting time waiting for slow buses, especially at night.

Some councillors went on a free trip to San Francisco, checking out post quake rebuild there & reckoned that qualified them for a rebuild. Christ Church Cathedral dean oinked about a temporary Cardboard Cathedral, costing millions. The dean would soon resign & briefly become a councillor.

Council management, staff, councillors had an entitlement ethos: free lunches, coffees, parties, booze-ups, gifts, in the case of councillors, overseas trips, Council business directorships, all from ratepayers' purse. Never mind 1 000s of struggling citizens post quakes.

There was safer land at alluvial shingled, western Christchurch. Why repeat seedy "Heritage" mistakes at citizens' expense? Although Council had asked & continued to ask for citizens' ideas on a CBD rebuild, a rebuild on old CBD swampland was flawed. Geotech reporting was missing on the Central City Plan. Never mind Christchurch Fault which damaged the CBD in the Boxing Day Quake.

Mon 15.08.11. Two months post June 13 Quake, when NZ was polar blasted, it hailed & snowed intermittently in Christchurch. Late that snowy afternoon, I drove along the CBD northern, steel mesh fence cordon, testing my new Samsung digital camera on snowy ruins & demolitions.


15.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Snowy demolition, roof rip off, St Lukes Anglican Church, Manchester St / Kilmore St, post June 13 quake


Snow masked quake ruins, demolitions, quakemire. Snow flattered quakescapes, but soon sludged.


15.08.11. Snowy demolition, roof rip off, St Lukes Anglican Church, Manchester St / Kilmore St, post June 13 quake




Snowy Manchester St / Kilmore St: Demolition, St Lukes Anglican Church roof stood on the ground by demolished, stony remains. St Lukes demolition site banner:

Grace Works
Demolitions & Recycling

I eastward trekked snowy Kilmore St, past St Lukes & snapped Feb 22 Killer Quake ghost houses, still with USAR / TF graffiti, brightly contrasting against snow. Steel gate, Council red sticker:

      DANGER
DO NOT ENTER


15.08.11. White, plastic, tape cordon. Snowy, quake damaged house, by St Lukes Anglican Church demolition, Kilmore St, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Blue portaloo & snowy eastwards view, Kilmore St, towards Madras St cordon, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. White, plastic, tape cordon. Snowy, quake damaged housing, Kilmore St, nr St Lukes Anglican Church, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Taiwan USAR / TF graffiti, Kilmore St, post June 13 quake

Snowy Kilmore St eastwards view: Madras St crossing cordon, Fire Service ghost, plastic tunnel-house for fire engines blocking Kilmore St. Oxford Tce Baptist Church gone, demolished.


15.08.11. Feb 22 quake & June 13 quake, snowy, quake damaged, Cancer Society bldg, Manchester St


15.08.11. EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT.  Steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St westwards view, Kilmore St snow cordon, towards Colombo St crossing, post June 13 quake. Most of the bldgs in the pic would be demolished

Snowy Westwards view, Kilmore St:  Pristine cordoned, all the way to Colombo St crossing, ghosts, visual silence. Most bldgs would be demolished. Steel mesh fence cordon, threat sign:

EXTREME
 DANGER
    KEEP
    OUT



15.08.11. Manchester St, steel mesh fence cordon view across Global Living & PGC bldg demolition. 18 people died when the PGC bldg collapsed in the Feb 22 quake. Empty CBD high rises beyond. Most of the bldgs in the pic would be demolished


Down snowy Manchester St, I snapped demolished Global Living site, once masking PGC demolition, Cambridge Tce, where 18 people died in the PGC collapse, Feb 22 Killer Quake. Two diggers, parked on PGC snow. Steel mesh fence cordon, disrespectful sign:

   SALE
NOW ON

Idiots!


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St view, diggers parked on snowy PGC bldg demolition. 18 people died when the PGC bldg collapsed in the Feb 22 Killer Quake. Empty CBD high rises beyond

Snowy Manchester St Bridge: A NZDF soldier slunk from his wooden hut, checkpointing SUVs leaving CBD cordon. No demolitions in cordoned CBD that day: soft snow too hard for digger operators & steel diggers.


15.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon, wooden checkpoint hut. Manchester St / Cambridge Tce, red zone, NZDF checkpoint, post June 13 quake. Dead CBD bldgs beyond


Snowy Peterborough St demolition: In a hail shower, dodging snow sludge, I snapped 2 wooden ruins, half demolished, masked by snow. Across the road, by quake boarded Medlab ghost (later demolished) a modern office ghost was demolition ruin against white sky. That Kilmore St, demolition could be seen from Peterborough St & Colombo St cordons. Another steel mesh fence cordon, threat sign:

EXTREME
 DANGER
    KEEP
     OUT


15.08.11. Snowy house, part demolition, Peterborough St, post June 13 quake. The ruin would be demolished







15.08.11. Hail storm, snowy Peterborough St, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Snowy Medlab carpark view, demolition next door, Peterborough St, post June 13 quake. Medlab would be demolished


15.08.11. EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT. Peterborough St view, a Kilmore St demolition, CBD snow cordon, post June 13 quake


Snowy quakescapes: Colombo St / Kilmore St: Demolition. Northwards, gawping cars sludged past. Small block of Colombo St  ghost shops, including Whisky Galore, Mr Sushi, dead-ended by a demolition site. The shops would be demolished.


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Snowy, quake damaged shops, dead-ended by demolition sites, Colombo St, post June 13 quake. The shops would be demolished


Eastwards, snowy Kilmore St demolition, fence cordoned all the way to Manchester St crossing, looming ghosts, surreal. Yellow daffodils hung on a demolition site, steel mesh fence cordon. Cordon fence, threat sign:

NOTICE

THIS IS A MULTIPLE
HAZARD AREA

PERSONS ENTERING THIS PROPERTY
MUST COMPLY WITH ALL SAFETY
REGULATIONS UNDER THE

HEALTH AND SAFETY IN
EMPLOYMENT ACT 1992
AND ITS AMENDMENTS

DO NOT ENTER

WITHOUT PERMISSION AND
NOTIFICATION OF THE
HAZARDS WITHIN

 CERA apartheid reigned supreme in Christchurch CBD.

15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Red skip, orange & yellow diggers. Snowy demolition, Colombo St / Kilmore St, post June 13 quake

Southwards, down steel mesh fence cordoned, snowy Colombo St, Christ Church Cathedral ghost, collapsed tower seen. Yellow flowers hung on the steel mesh fence cordon.


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Snow cordoned Colombo St / Kilmore St crossing view, Colombo St to Christ Church Cathedral collapsed tower, post June 13 quake. Most bldgs in the pic would be demolished


Westwards, snowy Kilmore St ghosts: Town Hall, Convention Centre, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Copthorne Hotel, steel mesh fence cordoned. Facades looked OK from afar, but ghosts awaited repairs, or demolitions, or rebuilds.


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordoned, Kilmore St / Colombo St, dead Town Hall right, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Colombo St crossing, western view, snow cordoned Kilmore St. Quake trashed Town Hall left. Beyond Crowne Plaza Hotel & Copthorne Hotel awaited demolition, post June 13 quake

Snowy Victoria St / Salisbury St crossing: Demolition. Jubilee Clock Tower, steel, gold painted stars glinting, late afternoon westwards, by Victoria Mansions; Strategy demolition; opp cnr, demolition, glassy bldg gone, orange digger parked on snow.


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Strategy bldg, snowy demolition, Victoria St / Salisbury St, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Snowy Victoria St / Salisbury St / Montreal St crossing. Quake damaged, Jubilee Clock Tower & Victoria Mansions behind, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Parked, orange digger, snowy demolition, Victoria St / Salisbury St, post June 13 quake


Hypothermic, I drove home to snowy Burnside, my car heater, full blast.

My new Samsung zoomed 5x giving more magnitude, opposed to my kaput Nikon's 4x.

Monday night it snowed more. Tuesday Christchurch, Port Hills were snowed under.

*Trekked Manchester St, Kilmore St, Peterborough St, Colombo St, Victoria St. 67 snaps.

Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.

See CERA Demolitions