Tuesday, January 8, 2013

*Year 3 CERA. Fourteen Avon River Bridges, Red Zone CBD











14 Avon River Bridges, Red Zone CD focus. Tues 08.01.13.  I wanted to see Christchurch CBD's one-span bridges & how they were affected by quakes & CERA's red zoning.

1. Armagh St Bridge, 1885, over Avon River near Botanic Gdns carpark, by Hagley Park: Several Avon River bridges were built in the 1880s & Victorians built durable stone structures with cast iron balustrades. Quakes sorted out strong bridges from weak bridges. Despite quake damages, most bridges were still used by the public.


08.01.13. Wood braced, brick bldg, Armagh St. Armagh St Bridge by Hagley Park beyond

By Armagh St Bridge on Rolleston Ave, an ad board trumpeted the annual Buskers Festival in Hagley Park. The bridge looked OK & was well used by foot & vehicle traffic to Hagley Park & Botanic Gdns. One of the bridge stone posts, weighing a couple of tons, was swivelled by quakes. Quakes had swivelled stone obelisks in Christchurch cemeteries too.


08.01.13. Armagh St Bridge, Hagley Park, Armagh St / Rolleston Ave



19.01.13. Juggling unicyclist, Buskers Festival, Hagley Park 


 


Flashback: Red zone, NZDF cordon soldiers, seated by the bridge, chatting up chicks at dusk, post 22.02.11 Killer Quake.

Armagh St: In the red zone CBD, lots of demolitions had happened since the quakes, incl PWC high rise. Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel stood alone, while insurer & owner dithered. CERA for all its Blueprint big talk had little effect on reducing insurer delays.

2. Botanic Gdns Footbridge by the carpark: Holiday season, well used. Bridge was briefly closed post 22.02.11 Killer Quake for inspection.


08.01.13. Botanic Gdns Footbridge by carpark, Hagley Park


In the pond, by Botanic Gdns info kiosk, stood Hector Zamora's ugly, boxy, metal sculpture, rescued from a Victoria Sq exhibition. Cultural crap, a waste of money, considering all the quake repairs / rebuilds needed in Christchurch CBD & beyond.


08.01.13. Hector Zamora sculpture, Christchurch Botanic Gdns



 
3. Botanic Gdns Footbridge by the bandstand: Daffodils below oaks. Bridge well used, Wasn't closed during quakes & beyond.


08.01.12. Christchurch Botanic Gdns, Rose Gdn


08.01.13. Botanic Gdns Footbridge, nr Hagley Park bandstand

4. Christchurch Hospital Bridge, Rolleston Ave / Cashel St junction: Bridge well used by Hagley Park lovers & hospital. The modern, concrete bridge survived the quakes well.


08.01.13. Hospital Bridge, Rolleston Ave / Cashel St junction

5. Antigua St Footbridge, 1901, between Antigua St & Cambridge Tce: By Antigua Boat Shed. Bridge was steel mesh fence cordon closed since the 22.02.11 Killer Quake. Huge diagonal crack on concrete abutment, Antigua St side. The footbridge would be repaired.


08.01.13. Antigua St Footbridge by Antigua Boat Shed. The bridge would be repaired


 


Cambridge Tce: I trekked beneath lindens, London planes & chestnut trees & snapped USAR / TF graffiti on ghost bldgs.


08.01.13. Quake closed, boarded bldg, Cambridge Tce


08.01.13. USAR / TF graffiti, tagging, yellow stickered, boarded bldg, Cambridge Tce


6. Montreal St Bridge, 1965: Modern concrete bridge. After post quake inspections, daily one-way, northbound heavy usage. Pavement tarseal repairs at span / abutment joins.


08.01.13. Cambridge Tce view, Montreal St Bridge


08.01.13. Cambridge Tce view, quake damaged, Central Police right, imploded, 30.05.15

7. Durham St Sth Bridge, 1976: Modern concrete bridge. After post quake inspections, daily one-way, southbound heavy usage. Like South Brighton Bridge, Durham St South Bridge rotated horizontal-clockwise in the 22.02.11 Killer Quake, displacing the concrete span 2-5 cms. Upriver Cambridge Tce side, a span / abutment join was concrete spalled, rebars exposed & rusting.

Throughout Christchurch, looking over bridge handrails, I saw bridge displacements at span / abutment joins, due to horizontal rotation of spans. I also saw quake wrinkled tar, or cracked tar, on road joins between span / abutments, due to bridge structural rotations & / or lateral spreading of roads & river banks.


08.01.13. Durham St Sth Bridge, N view. Central Police left, imploded, 30.05.15


08.01.13. Road surface, quake rotated join between abutment & span, Durham St Sth Bridge



08.01.13. Quake rotated join between abutment & span, Durham St Sth Bridge





08.01.13. Concrete spalling & quake rotation between abutment & span, Durham St Sth Bridge, Cambridge Tce side





08.01.13. Oxford Tce view, Durham St Sth Bridge. Central Police & Council bldg beyond. Central Police would be imploded, 30.05.15

8. Bridge of Remembrance, 1923-24, WW Memorial Footbridge between Cambridge Tce Cashel Mall: Steel mesh fence cordon closed to pedestrians since the 22.02.11 Killer Quake. Fence cordon, threat sign: EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT. Cambridge Tce side, brick walls & steps were displaced by quakes. Cracks in bridge stonework: cracked abutment & cracked wing wall, Cambridge Tce side, cracked side arches supporting stone lions, Cashel Mall side. Bridge of Remembrance would be restored.


08.01.13. Cambridge Tce view, quake damaged, steel mesh fence cordoned, Bridge of Remembrance. The bridge would be restored












08.01.13. Oxford Tce view, quake damaged, steel mesh fence cordoned, Bridge of Remembrance. The bridge would be restored












08.01.13. Bridge of Remembrance view, Restart Cashel Mall


9. Hereford St Bridge, 1938, Art Deco: Reopened since late 2011 when Restart Cashel Mall began, used by vehicle & foot traffic. Quake cracked concrete by abutments & wing walls, Cambridge Tce & Oxford Tce sides. Cracked concrete balustrades. Rumblings of all the pre-quakes, heavy traffic on one-way Cambridge Tce would've weakened Hereford St Bridge & Bridge of Remembrance. Near Hereford St Bridge, a steel mesh fence cordon across Oxford Tce sported threat signs: EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT...


08.01.13. Oxford Tce view, orange, Hi-Vis vested workmen by Hereford St Bridge. Clarendon Tower demolition site beyond



08.01.13. Oxford Tce view, quake damaged, Hereford St Bridge

 




 


08.01.13. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Hereford St Bridge, W view, Hereford St. Central Police left, Council bldg right. Central Police would be imploded, 30.05.15


08.01.13. Shipping container / steel mesh fence cordon. Hereford St Bridge, E view, red zone Hereford St. Entrance to Restart Cashel Mall through demolition site right

10. Worcester St Bridge, 1885: Still steel mesh fence cordon closed, Our City ghost side. Views beyond the cordon fence into red zone Cathedral Sq, still closed & inaccessible to public. CERA still parked vehicles on the bridge, no longer blocking public access to punting, but parking upriver side.

Steel mesh fence cordon, threat sign:

CERA

THIS AREA IS DESIGNATED AS
PARKING FOR

CERA EMERGENCY REPSONSE
VEHICLES ONLY

Another threat sign:

DANGER
KEEP OUT

So far CERA had red zoned over 7 000+ residential properties, TC3 green zoned 28 000 residential properties & demolished 100s of commercial properties in the CBD & suburbs. CERA's offspring SCIRT slowly repaired infrastructure & the CCDU Blueprint blotted the CBD with anchor projects, precincts, Frames & road widening to replace CERA demolitions.

Weekend Press 30-31.03.13 reported that rebuilt Westende House would be demolished, Manchester St / Worcester St, for CCDU's Manchester St widening. For CCDU boss Isaacs to demolish brand new Westende House was madness, while eastern suburbs endured Third World squalor more than 2 years post 22.02.11 Killer Quake.


08.01.13. Cambridge Tce view, quake cordoned, Worcester St Bridge, steel braced Our City, abandoned Rydges Hotel, red zone beyond


08.01.13. Worcester St Bridge view, Worcester St / Cambridge Tce crossing by Harleys


08.01.13. CERA vehicles, steel mesh fence cordoned, Worcester St Bridge & view into the red zone CBD







08.01.13. Oxford Tce view, Avon punters by Worcester St Bridge. Central Police bldg middle, Council bldg right. Central Police would be imploded 30.05.15


Flashbacks: Cops & NZDF soldiers guarding steel mesh fence cordoned, Worcester St Bridge, post 04.09.10 Darfield Quake. Three cops snapped ghost bldgs, Worcester Blvd.

11. Gloucester St Bridge, 1886: Open since CERA divided the CBD red zone into N & S red zones, Gloucester St the dividing line. Concrete spalling at upriver span / abutment join, Cambridge Tce side & wing wall, Oxford Tce side. Concrete cracks on downriver stonework. A red zone, steel mesh fence cordon blocked Oxford Tce by Central Library ghost & steel mesh fence cordoned, Provincial Council ghost. Fence cordon sign:

This Christchurch City Council facility
is closed due to the earthquakes

The Council is striving to access and carry out work on
its 1600 buildings as quickly as possible as part of its
Facilities Rebuild Plan programme...


08.01.13. Oxford Tce view, quake damaged, Gloucester St Bridge. Abandoned, red zone bldgs beyond - Craigs House left, Victoria Square middle, Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel right. Craigs House & Victoria Square would be demolished for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae








08.01.13. Gloucester St Bridge view, steel mesh fence cordoned, abandoned, Provincial Council in red zone

12. Armagh St Bridge, 1883, by Victoria Sq:  ROAD CLOSED. Red zone, cordon fencing by Provincial Council ghost & ghost high rises along Armagh St & Victoria Sq. Holes in bridge road with exposed pipes, downriver side. It was impossible to see other damage (?) due to a steel mesh fence cordon both sides of the bridge & vegetation obscuring bridge sides.
 

08.01.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Armagh St Bridge view, steel propped, Provincial Council in red zone



08.01.13. Armagh St Bridge view, abandoned red zone bldgs: Provincial Council right. Highrises - Craigs House, Victoria Square, Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel beyond. Craigs House & Victoria Square would be demolished for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae

 



08.01.13. Victoria Sq view, abandoned, red zone, high rises: Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel left, Victoria Square middle, Craigs House right. Victoria Square & Craigs House would be demolished for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae



CERA recently boasted about buying Craigs House, glassy high rise in Victoria Sq, for its Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae. So far CERA hadn't said who would build or own the Convention Centre, or who would pay the $300m-$500m ballooning costs?

What stopped any CBD hotel becoming a Convention Centre? Latimer Hotel? Ibis Hotel? Novotel? Heritage Hotel? Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel? Rendezvous Hotel? Rydges Hotel? The George Hotel? Excepting Latimer Hotel, a rebuild, The George Hotel, trading near Hagley Park & recently reopened Ibis Hotel, the rest of the above-mentioned hotels were still ghosts in CERA's forbidden CBD red zone. The Hotels had been closed for nearly 2 years, some being repaired.

A bridge view showed Craigs House ghost was tilted S, when compared to verticals on neighbouring Victoria Square ghost & Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel in the red zone beyond. Victoria Square flats were tilted N. Craigs House & Victoria Square flats would be demolished for NZ National govt's / CCDU's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae.

CERA's Blueprint included a CBD riverside park from Christchurch Hospital to Fitzgerald Ave, costing up to $100 million, design cost $3 million. (Weekend Press 26-27.01.13). Most of the CBD riverside park was already there, long before quakes. CERA was shy as to who would pay: taxpayers, ratepayers, or both?

Meanwhile CERA / NZ National govt hadn't responded to the 18 500 signature petition about a proposed AVON / Otakaro Park through demolished, riverside, residential red zones, from the CBD to Avon-Heathcote Estuary. What would happen to all that ex-residential, riverside land, taken by NZ National govt? The rest of NZ watched NZ National govt's taking without protest.

In future when CERA disestablished, another govt agency, Regenerate Christchurch would be formed to oversee the residential red zone / Crown ownership mess. For years, Avon River residential red zone would be CERA / LINZ fenced parkland, road barriers blocking many roads.

2020-21. Crown owned residential red zone land by rivers & on the Port Hills would be transferred to Christchurch City Council by NZ Labour govt, PM Jacinda Ardern.


08.01.13. Victoria Sq view, Avon punters by Armagh St Bridge. Steel mesh fence cordoned, abandoned Provincial Council beyond


Punters drifted by, blokes wearing Edwardian boaters & rattling punting poles through Avon sludge. None of the bridges under which they slogged were Edwardian. A rock by Avon River had a bronze plaque extolling cultural cringe amongst Avon willows, a French settler, Napoleon & St Helena.

My trek beside Avon River viewed exotic trees with bronze plaques, dead mayors' names inscribed on bridges, regimental plaques (Bridge of Remembrance), Hiroshima - Nagasaki atrocities plaque, statue to a Kiwi VC soldier with plaque...  

CERA touted Ngai Tahu taking over post quake Victoria Sq by a CERA proposed Ngai Tahu Te Puna Ahurea Cultural Centre. Pity CERA hadn't consulted Christchurch Asian communities. Where I lived at Burnside & at Avonhead, there were many more Asians than Maori. There was no consultation with communities regarding NZ National govt's / CCDU's Blueprint for Christchurch CBD. Just diktat by NZ National govt.

Why hadn't Sir Mark Solomon asked why CERA was doing few E suburb repairs? Maori lived in E suburbs, a Maori Marae off Pages Rd. A drive along Travis Rd, or Pages Rd, or New Brighton Rd to New Brighton would show little done in E suburbs to repair roads & housing properly. Many people there, including Maori, existed in post quake wreckage. Wainoni, Aranui, Dallington, Burwood, Bexley, New Brighton, Southshore were not teeming with CERA workers. Even the causeway to Redcliffs & Sumner: so far, few repairs.

Fri-Sun 18-20.01.13. PM Key, who'd swooned at a Merivale restaurant & Sir Solomon flew to Antarctic for 3 days, returning Shackleton's 3 whiskey bottles & erecting a Maori statue.


08.01.13. St Helena willows plaque, Avon punters, Victoria Sq



08.01.13. Victoria Sq, steel mesh fence cordon view, Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel in forbidden red zone

13. Victoria Bridge, 1863-64, widened 1885, Victoria Sq: Survived the quakes. Town Hall ghost beyond was red zone, steel mesh fence cordon closed, Dandelion Fountain not functioning, weedy, brick steps tilted by Town Hall back door. Victoria Bridge & Town Hall would be repaired, 2016.


08.01.13. Victoria Bridge, quake survivor, Victoria Sq. Quake trashed Town Hall in forbidden red zone right. The bridge & Town Hall would be repaired, 2016.








08.01.13. Victoria Sq view, quake trashed Town Hall by Dandelion Fountain & Avon River, forbidden red zone. Town Hall would be repaired, 2016




08.01.13. Maori pou, Victoria Sq & quake trashed Town Hall by Avon River in forbidden red zone. Town Hall would be repaired, 2016

14. Colombo St Bridge, 1902, by Town Hall ghost: Quake buckled iron arch, upriver side. Red zone, steel mesh fence cordon closed along Colombo St & Victoria Sq. Demolition vehicles were parked on Colombo St, by Copthorne Hotel ghost, later demolished. Wooden tables & chairs still stood on the balcony, customers fled 2 years before in the 22.02.11 Killer Quake. Many demolition sites in the red zone, ghastly gaps.


08.01.13. Victoria Sq view, quake damaged, Colombo St Bridge. The bridge would be repaired





08.01.13. Victoria Sq view, red zone, truck shower (to lay dust) & demolition sites, Colombo St. Abandoned Ernst & Young beyond would be demolished


08.01.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Victoria Sq view, abandoned Copthorne Hotel awaited demolition, Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel, Colombo St, forbidden red zone





08.01.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Victoria Sq view, demolition truck by Copthorne Hotel, awaiting demolition, Colombo St, forbidden red zone

Queen Victoria Boer War statue glared at car tyres dumped on red zone Armagh St pavement & USAR / TF graffiti on steel mesh fence cordoned bldgs. I snapped quake trashed, steel mesh fence cordoned Colombo St: Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel, Christ Church Cathedral ghost, NZDF checkpointed, steel mesh fence cordoned.


08.01.13. Queen Victoria Boer War Statue, Victoria Sq. Abandoned Victoria Square apartments in forbidden red zone beyond. Victoria Square apartments would be demolished for NZ National govt's / CCDU's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae


08.01.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Victoria Sq view, quake survivors, Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel in forbidden red zone. Pacific Tower / Rendezvous Hotel left


08.01.13 Steel mesh fence cordon. Victoria Sq, S view, Colombo St forbidden red zone: Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel & Camelot Hotel left. Camelot Hotel would be demolished for Central Library / Turanga rebuild. Christ Church Cathedral ruin beyond. Isaac House / National Bank right would survive the quakes next to CCDU's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae


08.01.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Victoria Sq view, Camelot Hotel & Christ Church Cathedral ruin in forbidden red zone. Camelot Hotel would be demolished for Central Library / Turanga rebuild


08.01.13. Victoria Sq view, tyre rubbish by Farmers, Armagh St pavement, forbidden red zone. Farmers would be demolished for NZ National govt's / CCDU's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae




08.01.13. Weedy pavement, Victoria Square apartments, forbidden red zone. Victoria Square apartments would be demolished for NZ National govt's / CCDU's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae


08.01.13. Victoria Sq view, Victoria Square apartments & Craigs House in forbidden red zone. Victoria Square apartments & Craigs House would be demolished for NZ National govt's / CCDU's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae

Victoria Sq: Near the Court House, the floral clock behind a steel mesh fence cordon looked good. Pallet Pavilion (Gap Filler initiative) on Crowne Plaza Hotel demolition site looked good.

Kilmore St / Victoria St / Durham St Nth crossing: Demolition sites all around. Restaurants bldg, a demolition in progress, Kilmore St / Durham St Nth. Town Hall ghost: isolated by demolition sites & Victoria Sq / Colombo St cordon.

Durham St Nth / Chester St West: Radio NZ, a demo in progress.
 

08.01.13. Victoria Sq view, steel mesh fence cordoned walkway going to Crowne Plaza Hotel demolition site


08.01.13. Victoria Sq view, steel mesh fence cordoned, floral clock & Court House


08.01.13. Steel mesh fence cordoned walkway going to Victoria Sq from Crowne Plaza Hotel demolition site. Abandoned Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel beyond would survive the quakes


08.01.13. Pallet Pavilion, Crowne Plaza Hotel demolition site, Kilmore St / Durham St Nth


 

08.01.13. Pallet Pavilion view, Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel left, Salvation Army bldg middle (soon demolished) Court House right, in forbidden red zone


08.01.13. Pallet Pavilion view, Copthorne Hotel & Riverlands House demolition sites, Durham St Nth / Kilmore St / Victoria St crossing. Christchurch Casino right would survive the quakes



08.01.13. Pallet Pavilion view, Gap Filler hut middle, Town Hall in forbidden red zone right



08.01.13. Pallet Pavilion view, Crowne Plaza Hotel demo site, steel mesh fence cordon, restaurants bldg (would be demolished) Kilmore St / Durham St Nth


08.01.13. Pallet Pavilion, Crowne Plaza Hotel demolition site, Durham St Nth / Kilmore St




08.01.13. Steel mesh fence cordon, orange, plastic, road barrier, orange, plastic, road cones. Pallet Pavilion view, Salvation Army bldg left (soon demolished) Radio NZ demolition site right, Durham St Nth / Chester St West


08.01.13. Rotary pansies in tyre, demolition site carpark, Durham St Nth / Armagh St


Generally, Victorian steel & concrete bridges withstood quakes better than later bridges. I guess Victorians used more durable steel & concrete.

SCIRT repairs to bridges were slow. On several bridges, quakes caused concrete to spall or crack, showing rebars. Concrete damages allowed air & moisture in, which rusted rebars, further weakening bridges. But CERA allowed 1 000s of citizens to use quake damaged bridges daily along Avon River to Avon / Heathcote Estuary. Meanwhile, for 2 years+ CERA occupied & steel mesh fence cordoned Christchurch CBD with NZDF checkpoints, forbidding citizens' entry.

Never mind more quake damaged bridges used by citizens: Damaged concrete & steel reinforced piers, like X steel braced Moorhouse Ave Overbridge. I drove that way on weekly shopping trips & was spooked at Colombo St traffic lights, by Rebel, the overbridge looming over me. Two years post 22.02.11 Killer Quake, it was still steel braced & dangerous, used by 1 000s of motorists.

SCIRT would repair Moorhouse Ave Overbridge, 2015-16.


08.01.13. Feb 22 quake damaged Moorhouse Ave Overbridge, Moorhouse Ave / Colombo St crossing



08.01.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Post 22.02.11 quake, steel bracing, Moorhouse Ave Overbridge


Due to slow demolitions & as CERA still hogged Worcester St Bridge & Colombo St Bridge cordons, red zone, closed entries to Cathedral Sq, that didn't bode well for CERA trumpeted mid year 2013 opening of the CBD red zone. There were already too many broken deadlines for zonings by CERA. Despite CBD bridges connections, CERA was disconnected from citizens.


08.01.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake trashed piers & steel bracing, Moorhouse Ave Overbridge




 



Since the 22.02.11 Killer Quake, National State of Emergency, CERA had adopted the Civil Defence, militarized mind set, with a NZDF cordoned, checkpointed, demolition / rebuild zone in the CBD. Citizens banned.


08.01.13. Feb 22 quake damaged piers & steel bracing, Moorhouse Ave Overbridge





*Trekked Armagh St, Botanic Gdns, Rolleston Ave, Cambridge, Tce, Oxford Tce, Worcester St Bridge, Gloucester St Bridge, Armagh St, Victoria Sq, Colombo St, Kilmore St, Durham St Nth, Moorhouse Ave. 162 images.

CERA co-opted Council workers & did little to increase EQC efficiency & curb insurers' manipulations of insurance payouts for residential rebuilds or repairs. Latest CERA deadline to complete all residential rebuilds or repairs: 2016. That sentenced 1 000s to degraded living in quake damaged housing for years. Never mind fire hazards from red zone demolition waste & overgrown gardens; crap repairs & health hazards, like contractors hiding damaged roof asbestos behind boards.

CERA made Crown offers, based on 2007 Rateable Value, to over 7 000 residential red zoners, enabling NZ National govt to take vast tracts of red zone residential land & enabling insurers to manipulate contractual obligations with low offers & slow payouts to red zoners.

Latest shafting reported by The Press, 14.01.13: After insurer payouts on quake damaged homes, land speculators were buying written off properties for cash (quake trashed, sold housing, no longer insurable or mortgageable) & putting tenants in quake-trashed housing, while speculating on land prices. Luke would soon tenant such a quake-trashed rental, 8 Berwick St, as rentals were scare, due to post quake demolitions & influx of rebuild workers pressurizing Christchurch rental market. Luke would leave 3 years later, when the landlord wanted 8 Berwick St garage & driveway to build a Spa business. Never mind that Luke's house rent would stay the same, despite losing garage & driveway & having to endure construction inconvenience outside the house front door!

So much for Brownlee's "market" sorting out post quakes, overpriced housing & rentals. Christchurch Employers' Chamber of Commerce boss Townsend had said last year, he could "smell the money" when referring to investment money pouring into Christchurch CBD rebuild. Townsend was quiet when Christchurch was flooded by immigrants, like Irish & Filipinos, wanting to cash in on rebuild work. Never mind Kiwi unemployed.

As for National politician, Don Brash recommending turning a blind eye on illegal rebuild workers in Christchurch, as his sister's Christchurch house still needed quake repairs, Brash was a fool. (The Press 21.01.13). Brash's comment mocked legal migrants like myself, who'd jumped many NZIS hoops to get NZ permanent residence, at great personal cost. NZ citizenship would be wishful thinking for us for 25 years, as NZ citizenship was expensive & we had living expenses. Never mind more citizenship application hoops to jump. Brash should look at SA to see what happened when millions of illegals flooded in from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Congo, Nigeria, Somalia...

If CERA, insurers, EQC & Fletcher had pulled fingers, all residential repairs could've been completed by now, almost 2 years post 22.02.11 Killer Quake & more than a year post Xmas Quake Swarm 2011. Instead CERA / EQC / Fletcher said house repairs would be completed by 2015!

Post 22.02.11 Killer Quake, cops had whipped up hysteria about looters. The only looter I perceived was CERA: looting red zone residential properties & looting old & new CBD properties, with many demolitions for its Blueprint Frames & Anchor Projects.

Thurs 17.01.13. 12.55pm, M3.3 quake, 6km depth, 15km E of Christchurch (GeoNet). I didn't feel it at Burnside, but Luke who was visiting South New Brighton said the quake shook his girlfriend's house. Over the next 2 days he also felt 4 more quakes not reported by GeoNet. It wasn't the first time we felt more quakes than reported by GeoNet, like the Xmas Quake Swarm 23.12.11. The Press had published a figure of 11 000 quakes since 04.09.10 Darfield Quake. That figure had been quoted for months!

Sat 19.01.13. 9.15pm, M4.6 quake, 12km depth, 15km SW of Christchurch (GeoNet). Waved by & shook our lounge pot plants.

Coda:

Mar 2021. Although Leah & I had lived in South Canterbury for 7 post quake years, we would regularly visit Christchurch to see our sons & for Leah's Literacy teaching work. We attended Leah's UC graduation ceremony in the refurbished Town Hall. We took happy-snaps by the repaired Dandelion Fountain. Christchurch rising.

Content & pics, Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.

See No need to tell of asbestos (The Press / Stuff Co).

See Critically damaged bridges & concepts for earthquake recovery. (Waldin, Jennings & Routledge paper).

See Written off homes selling for rentals (The Press / Stuff Co).

See Ngai Tahu's reach shapes a new city (The Press / Stuff Co).

See Rebuild needs all hand to the pump (The Press / Stuff Co).

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