After at least 3 public protests at places like Cambridge Tce by the Bridge of Remembrance & Netball Courts, Hagley Park, smooth talker Parata (according to PM Key) backtracked & suddenly found it important to visit & "consult" Christchurch school communities. Upshot: Longstone, Pom Education Secretary of the MOE resigned, with a golden handshake.
I was in regular contact with 2 Christchurch schools: Jean Seabrook Memorial School, London St, a private school where Leah taught & South New Brighton School, Estuary Rd. Luke's girlfriend lived near South New Brighton School & dad's taxi, I often drove that way. September 2012, South New Brighton School was slated by the MOE for merging with Central New Brighton School.
Both schools were E suburb schools, London St in the near E, close to the CBD, Estuary Rd in the far E, Southshore, close to Avon / Heathcote Estuary & the Pacific. Both schools were battered by quakes over the last 2 years.
Jean Seabrook Memorial School was near the Christchurch Fault, which damaged the CBD in the Boxing Day Quake 2010. South New Brighton School was near the Pegasus Bay Fault which damaged E suburbs in the Xmas Quake Swarm 2011. Never mind other big quakes shaking Christchurch to hell.
SCIRT infrastructure repairs were running sores: For the last 2 years since the 22.02.11 Killer Quake, we'd endured road detours while excavations happened all over Christchurch, for water & sewage pipe laying & new infrastructure. SCIRT left repaired excavation road works a mess, the roads more bumpy than quake damages.
15.02.13. Post quake, Jean Seabrook Memorial School / Seabrook McKenzie Centre, London St
15.02.13. ROAD CLOSED. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Post quake, sewer excavation & renewal, Cumberland St
London St: After 11 000+ quakes over the last 2.5 years, Leah said her pupils were quake stressed. Staff & parents had twice dug Jean Seabrook Memorial School out of liquefaction mud, post 22.02.11 & 13.06.11 quakes. Post Feb 22 Killer Quake for weeks, London St was a main thoroughfare joining Bealey Ave & Stanmore Rd. Traffic rumbling shook the school & disturbed staff & kids.
15.02.13. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Post quake, road works, Jean Seabrook Memorial School right, London St. Richmond Working Mens Club left
15.02.13. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordons. Post quake, Jean Seabrook Memorial School view, Richmond Working Mens Club, London St
15.02.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Post quake, sewer excavation & renewal, Jean Seabrook Memorial School, Pavitt St
Over 2 years post quakes, there were several Council & SCIRT excavations on London St, all with traffic obstructions & detours. Leah found several different routes to access / egress school. Sometimes excavator machines blocked school gates.
Across the Rd from Leah's school, Cumberland St was detoured & steel mesh fence cordoned while new sewer pipe excavations progressed.
There was slow demolition of Richmond Working Mens Club across London St from the school. The club was damaged in the 04.09.10, 22.02.11 & 13.06.11 quakes & part demolished to make it safe. It would later be fully demolished & a new Richmond Club rebuilt in 2020-21. 2022. During Covid-19 pandemic, Jake would work as a chef at Richmond Club. His previous employer, a Ferrymead caterer, had become abusive during the pandemic, expecting Jake to work excessive night-shift overtime, due to staff losses & zero staff recruitment. Jake then had to train staff to take over his excessive work load before his departure. What a crock!
15.02.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Richmond Working Mens Club, quake demolition site, London St
2012-13. Full demolition: Diggers bashed the ghost club & jolted Leah's school across the road. Leah said the joltings were worse than quakes. Never mind dust & asbestos hazards, affecting the school whenever winds blew. Leah had an eye infection & sometimes battled to breathe. She attributed that to demolition dust the school endured. I suggested she took a mask to school & wear it when not teaching.
Adding insult to injury, opp Leah's classroom, 2 threat signs on Richmond Working Mens Club, steel mesh fence cordon:
DANGER
ASBESTOS
HAZARD
NO AUTHORISED ENTRY
Richmond Working Mens Club
Hazards Present / Controls:
Wet down stockpile
Wear respiratory protection
Hard hats, safety boots, gloves
Use of excavator equipped with FOPS [Falling Object Protective Structure]
Demarcate "no go" zones and enforce
Wear safety footwear
Keep working areas, footpaths clear...
Load, operate on level position
Make eye contact with operator when approaching
Approach from the front of machine and request boom be lowered to the ground
All machines to have FOPS
Site security fencing
Authorised personnel only and site safety signage...
Prohibit access to building and use clear warning signage
Wear protective clothing e.g. respirator, disposable overalls, gloves
Remove from building in accordance with guidelines
The above demolition / construction site, hazard controls gave an idea of hazards Leah & school staff endured for months opposite Richmond Working Mens Club. What damaged was done to Leah's lungs & school staffs' lungs during successive demolitions & asbestos removal from Richmond Working Mens Club? Leah wasn't paid danger-money, nor did she wear PPE during that time. It was unheard of for teachers to wear masks during quake times. Little did we know, it would be Leah's twilight year at the school.
15.02.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Stanmore Rd view, part demolished, Richmond Working Mens Club. Quake survivor, Richmond Methodist Church right would be relocated by truck to Marshlands Rd, 30.03.16
15.02.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Richmond Village Green view, part demolished, Richmond Working Mens Club. Richmond Methodist Church right would be relocated by truck to Marshlands Rd, 30.03.16
The latest SCIRT excavation, beginning early 2013, was in Pavitt St by the school. Every time an excavation machine jolted, the school jolted too. The were more joltings of the school by excavators & passing trucks than quakes. Leah said workmen warned the school about demolitions & excavations, but that didn't reduce the stress of road detours, loud noises, joltings & dust. Over quake years, two Pom teachers Leah worked with left the school. As Leah taught learning-disabled pupils, highly specialized teaching, Leah had the added stress of training new teachers on-the-job.
On one side, Leah's ground floor classroom was about 30m from Cumberland St excavation. On the other side her classroom was about 30m from Pavitt St excavation. Some offices & teaching rooms were about 10m from Pavitt St excavation. The school playground was about 50m from Richmond Working Mens Club demolition. Leah was the hell in with ongoing demolitions & excavations. Never mind ongoing quakes.
15.02.13. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Post quake sewer excavation & renewal, Jean Seabrook Memorial School, Pavitt St
15.02.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Post quake Pavitt St, sewer renewal view, Richmond Working Mens Club, London St
Pavitt St: Richmond School was due for closure as its roll was low. Since the quakes the two schools had bonded. Richmond school lent Leah's school toilet facilities, as Leah's school used portaloos for months. They also let Leah's school use Richmond School hall, as Richmond Methodist Church hall, which Leah's school had used, was quake trashed & demolished.
Richmond School was on prime land near the CBD. Not content with taking residential red zone properties & CBD, commercial red zone properties, NZ National govt used quakes as an excuse to take school properties. After closure, Richmond School would become an Education Hub used by teachers for seminars.
15.02.13. Post quake, Richmond School, Pavitt St. Richmond School would close at the end of 2013 due to low roll. It would become an Education Hub used by teachers
2011-2012. Estuary Rd by South New Brighton School was twice dug up in a botched SCIRT laying of sewage pipes. SCIRT left Estuary Rd in a Third World state, bad tarseal, potholed & bumpy, far worse than quake damages.
15.02.13. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Post quake water pipe excavation & renewal, South New Brighton School, Estuary Rd. Central NB School would merge with South NB School early 2014
15.02.13. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow, Super Silent pump, post quake, water pipe excavation & renewal, South New Brighton School, Estuary Rd
During 2 Christchurch quake years, so far I'd had one tyre blowout & one tyre puncture, nail in tyre. Unprecedented in over 40 years driving in African, UK & European countries. In SA I had occasional punctures & blowouts, but spread over many years.
15.02.13. FOOTPATH CLOSED. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Post quake, water pipe excavation & renewal, Estuary Rd. Central NB School & South NB School would merge early 2014
Estuary Rd: Early 2013. SCIRT laid water pipes by the pavement before South New Brighton School. Entrances to the school & nearby homes were blocked by a trench, while concrete was laid over pipes. Drivers endured orange, plastic, road cone detours & steel mesh fence cordons by the school & housing.
15.02.13. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Steel plate walkway for pedestrians over water pipe excavation & renewal, South New Brighton School, Estuary Rd
15.02.13. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Steel plates driveway over water pipe excavation & renewal, South New Brighton School, Estuary Rd
When I fetched Luke at his girlfriend's steel mesh fence cordoned house, I drove across steel plates which bridged the road trench, winged by steel mesh fence cordons & excavator machines. While pumping, a yellow, SUPER SILENT pump shook the steel mesh fence cordon. When I first parked by the pump & the fence shook, I thought it was an earthquake!
That Estuary Rd excavation was small, a bigger sewer excavation went on northwards, along Union St.
Mon 18.02.13, One News. MOE confirmed 12 schools would merge & 7 would close (in effect 13 closures) a reduced number from the September cockup. MOE confirmed closure of Richmond School & merging of Central New Brighton School with South New Brighton School. Freeville School near QE11 Park would merge with North New Brighton School.
After 5 months of Canterbury schools' angst, Parata showed MOE incompetence & negligence by stopping the closing / merging of another 12 schools announced last September. According to the September MOE announcement, the schools were supposed to be closed / merged because of quakes. Never mind that quake displacements / demographics were just guesswork, as no pre / post quake census figures were used by MOE.
As for the vast New Brighton / Southshore area, for MOE to chop schools from 4 to 2 was insane. Granted some houses along Avon riversides were red zoned, with people internally displaced in the city, but closing 2 schools & disrupting 4 schools in the area would be nasty. Never mind along Breezes Rd where MOE would rationalize 5 Aranui / Avondale / Wainoni schools into one huge school. That decision would be deferred by Parata's "interim" spin till March. (March would pass, still no decision by Parata about the Aranui cluster school). In quake ravaged E suburbs, Wainoni, Aranui, Avondale, Bexley, New Brighton, Southshore, NZ National govt planned to cull 9 schools to 3 schools. National's "brighter future."
Never mind kids forced to bus to merged schools with poor bus services. e.g. Phillipstown School merged with Woolston School, where there was no bus service for merged kids.
Near home in Burnside, Kendal School would be closed & Burnside Primary School would stay open for rebuild, although the latter was formerly slated for closure when PM Key said it was riddled with borer. Ha! Burnside was Brownlee's electorate too.
Branston Intermediate where our sons had done technical subjects was closed, the only technical intermediate school in Hornby. Both sons did technical subjects at high schools & chose technical careers. Phillipstown School, where Leah took her school kids for technical subjects would merge with Woolston School. Was MOE against technical subjects?
Tues 18.02.13, The Press article "Parata's 'lie-telling' infuriates principals" showed the deceit of Parata & MOE in their rescheduling September closing / merging deadlines. As an election loomed in 2014, National tidied loose ends in Canterbury education by bringing closure / merger deadlines forward to the end of 2013. Never mind the stress caused in schools. National's "brighter future" was the best Canterbury education taxpayers' $1 billion could buy over the next decade.
NZ National govt used quakes as an excuse to cause huge damage to Canterbury education. e.g. Despite temporary relocation, sharing Van Asch School's Sumner premises, in 2016, Redcliffs School would still battle MOE against closure & forced removal to a new school site.
New closure / merger deadlines reported in The Press article:
"Some schools are already planning appeals over the new timelines. Linwood Intermediate's closure has been brought forward to the end of this year.
Lyttelton Main School and Lyttelton West School have been told they will need to combine by the start of 2014 rather than 2016 as initially planned.
South New Brighton and Central New Brighton schools have the same deadlines. [SCIRT hadn't fixed quake trashed NB roads properly yet].
Branston Intermediate will close in January next year - a year earlier than originally planned. [Yet Hornby was booming with industrial & commercial growth. The new S motorway turnoff onto Halswell Junction Rd had increased traffic through Hornby over the last months].
Kendal School will now have to close by the end of the year, rather than by 2016.
Manning Intermediate may close a year earlier and North New Brighton and Freeville will merge two years earlier than expected..."
That wasn't counting the planned merging of 5 Aranui / Avondale / Wainoni schools: decision in March.
Twilight, Mon 17.02.13: Hazard lights flashing, I drove down Restart Cashel Mall to fetch a rimu cabinet & fish tank which Luke bought from quake trashed Pagoda Court Restaurant, Colombo St. Restart Cashel Mall container shops were closed, tourists wandered about.
Pagoda Court Restaurant was still 22.02.11 Killer Quake trashed, furniture scattered. I looked across The Crossing cordon fence into the Red Zone CBD at demolition sites & ghosts, no lights on. Te Waipounamu House was still being demolished. For Brownlee to spin the CBD Red Zone as Rebuild Zone was laughable, no CBD rebuild so far.
Hazard lights flashing, when I drove back along Cashel Mall, a sunset glow silhouetted Bridge of Remembrance arch.
Tues 18.02.13. One News reported that 1 500 protesting teachers, parents & school kids had marched from CBS Arena to Education Ministry offices, Princess St, protesting closures / mergers & new deadlines. Last year I'd attended a protest at EQC offices, Princess St, in bucketing rain.
*Trekked London St, Pavitt St, Stanmore Rd, Estuary Rd. 64 images.
Coda: 2018-19. Pagoda Court Restaurant, 2 storey ghost, would be demolished & replaced by a new, 2 storey Kathmandu, Colombo St / Cashel Mall..
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
See Christchurch schools overhaul 'botched' (The Press / Stuff Co).
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