21.02.13. Red zone, Atlantis St / Travis Rd
21.02.13. Red zone, quake trashed church, Atlantis St / Travis Rd
Since then QE11 athletics stadium was gone, demolished by CERA's Mainzeal contractor, also gone, receivership.
21.02.13. As a second anniversary tribute to the 22 February 2011 Quake, I looked again at Atlantis St & Chimera Cres, apt names for the quake which caused so much damage & grief to Christchurch & surrounds.
21.02.13. Red zone, quake trashed house, Atlantis St
21.02.13. Red zone, quake trashed house, Atlantis St
Atlantis St: I parked by the ghost-church fronting Travis Rd. The church's asphalt carpark was buckled. I saw heaps of dry quakemire around the church.
I trekked Atlantis St past house demolition-sites. Most quakemire was gone, dumped elsewhere. I saw a few heaps of dry sand on footpaths & in gardens. Chimera Cres , the view was similar. Pre-quakes, the houses in Atlantis St & Chimera Cres residential red-zone were new.
21.02.13. Red zone, weedy, quake trashed house, Atlantis St
Less people were noticeable since I last trekked those roads. Most houses on Atlantis St & Chimera Cres were abandoned & had overgrown gardens. Council & CERA kept up appearances by mowing verges, some gardens & a park. Driveways were impossible to mow, weeds grew rank in driveway-cracks & in some gardens up to window height. Garages doors signalled abandonment: tilted, sunken, misaligned, tall weeds in front.
21.02.13. Red zone, quake trashed housing, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Red zone, quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Sucker truck, red zone, Chimera Cres
Chimera Cres: An orange Hi-Vis vested workman operated his WASTE AWAY sucker truck, sucking sewage from a road manhole. Some houses were still inhabited, evidenced by parked cars, but most houses were abandoned.
21.02.13. Red zone, weedy quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Red zone, liquefactioned driveway, quake trashed housing, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Red zone, house demolition site, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Red zone, weedy, quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Red zone, liquefaction sand by quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Red zone, quake split fence, tagging by quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
Three twoo-storey abandoned houses overlooked the waterway & a deserted children's playground. The three abandoned houses were tagged & gutted, prepared for demolition. Luxuriant flax indicated underground water & liquefaction prone land.
21.02.13. Red zone, 3 quake trashed, 2 storey houses near a waterway, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Red zone, liquefactioned playground, quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Red zone, weedy, quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Red zone, house demolition sites, quake trashed housing, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Red zone, weedy, quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
Most Chimera Cres abandoned houses were liquefaction-tilted or sunk in quakemire, showing the stupidity of building housing on swampland near a waterway!
21.02.13. Red zone, weedy, quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
Meanwhile at Latimer Sq: A tree-planting, memorial-service was held for King's Education families who'd lost loved ones in the collapsed multi-storey CTV during the 22 February 2011 Quake. 115 died in the CTV collapse, including 80 students & staff of King's Education language school. (One News).
The tree grew on the northwest corner of Latimer Sq. A bronze-plaque below:
In memory of the
9 staff & 71 students
of King's Education
who lost their lives in
the earthquake on the
22nd of February 2011
2026. Despite the Royal Commission of Inquiry & the Coroner's Report & the NZ Police Investigation, no one was held accountable for CTV's collapse. Justice not served!
21.02.13. Red zone, mowed parkland near waterway, Chimera Cres. Grass already grown over liquefaction mud
21.02.13. Red zone, waterway between Chimera Cres & Anzac Dr. Port Hills beyond
21.02.13. Red zone, quake trashed concrete & iron drain, Chimera Cres
21.02.13. Red zone, weedy, quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
21.02.13 Red zone, quake trashed housing, Chimera Cres. Port Hills beyond
21.02.13. Red zone, weedy, quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
CERA boss Sutton announced another CERA delay in reviewing its Port Hills residential red-zoning: review delays from Xmas, then end of February, then manana. CERA delayed, then made excuses for delays. (The Press). A current court-case: a couple questioned their insurer claiming their red-zone house was repairable instead of more expensively replaceable. CERA's delays pended the court-ruling, a precedent. The Insurer's case was farcical: It was pointless repairing a red-zone house when CERA forced red-zoners to abandon red-zone land & housing.
21.02.13. Red zone, quake trashed house, Chimera Cres
By 2015 most Atlantis St & Chimera Cres housing was demolished by CERA. The land reverted to swampland, bogged with reeds & mud-holes.
*Trekked Atlantis St, Chimera Cres. 86 images.
Coda:
2023. Volunteer groups rewilded Atlantis St & Chimera Cres vicinity with native plantings.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
See Land zoning review delayed again (The Press / Stuff Co).
See Red zoning just doesn't make sense (The Press / Stuff Co).
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