Monday, October 14, 2013

Year 3 CERA. Mona Vale, Fendalton Road



16.10.13. Mona Vale front gate sign, Wairarapa Stream, Fendalton Rd

Mona Vale focus. Fendalton Rd: Wed 16.10.13. I hadn't seen Mona Vale since the 04.09.10 Darfield Quake, so time for another look. Mona Vale was a Council park at the confluence of 4 rivers: Wairarapa Steam, Waimairi Stream, Avon River & Mill Stream, with railway / quake trashed brick wall one side & posh housing the other side of the river. Mona Vale had started as Victorian private property taken over by Council in the 1960s. NZ Historic Places Trust listed Mona Vale as a Category 1 Historic Place, so ratepayers paid for upkeep & quake damages.


16.10.13. Quake trashed, abandoned Mona Vale gate house, Fendalton Rd. The gate house would be repaired, 2016



16.10.13. City Care workmen clearing water weed, Wairarapa Stream, Mona Vale, Fendalton Rd


Heritage hailers squawked when post quake demolitions were imminent, but post quakes there was little squawking for fund raising to protect heritage bldgs. So quake damaged, heritage bldgs just stood empty, ghosts, surrounded by steel mesh fence cordons.



16.10.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake trashed, abandoned Mona Vale gate house, Fendalton Rd. The gate house would be repaired, 2016







Fendalton Rd: By the railway, I looked at Mona Vale, gate house ghost, steel mesh fence cordoned since the 22.02.11 Killer Quake. A fallen chimney still lay on the pavement & metal sheeting covered 2 parts of the roof, where 2 chimneys had collapsed. Walls were quake cracked & boarded.

The gate house would be repaired, 2016.


16.10.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake trashed, abandoned Mona Vale gate house, Fendalton Rd. The gate house would be repaired, 2016








Steel mesh fence cordon, Council info board:

This Christchurch City Council facility is closed due to earthquakes.

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

Given all the ghosts haunting Christchurch, like Mona Vale & Bishopdale Community Centre... the plan was slow.


16.10.13. Wairarapa Stream, Waimari Stream, Avon River confluence, Mona Vale







I crossed a couple of wooden bridges where Waimairi Stream & Avon River joined Wairarapa Stream. Leah liked feeding ducks there, a peaceful place, away from busy Fendalton Rd.

By the carpark a lengthy section of garden brick wall bordering the railway had quake collapsed, rubble lying alongside the broken wall. Past the rose garden towards the fernery more sections of brick wall had quake collapsed, rubble ditto.


16.10.13. Quake collapsed brick wall, Avon River, Mona Vale




16.10.13. Quake collapsed brick wall between railway & Mona Vale carpark












16.10.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake collapsed brick wall, Mona Vale fernery


The homestead / restaurant ghost was steel mesh fence cordoned since the 2010-11 quakes & propped by wood & steel bracing & big concrete blocks on two sides. Many windows of the 2 storey house were boarded. A large section of the front wall was covered in black plastic.


16.10.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake trashed, abandoned Mona Vale homestead / restaurant







Steel mesh fence cordon, Council info board:

The Homestead
Mona Vale

The building was damaged in the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquakes and aftershocks. 

Propping walls and other support is designed to keep the building weather-proof [stopped collapse] until a decision about its future can be made.

The English arts and crafts movement influenced the design of the homestead. It was built in 1897 for Frederick Waymouth manager of the region's frozen meat works. Heiress Annie Townend purchased the property in 1905 renaming it Mona Vale after her mother's birthplace in Tasmania.

New Zealand Historic Places Trust / Pouhere Toanga lists Mona Vale as a Category 1 Historic Place.



16.10.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake trashed, abandoned Mona Vale homestead / restaurant




















The nearby Bath House was closed & wood braced riverside. Punting on the Avon through Mona Vale was closed.


16.10.13. Quake closed, abandoned Bath House, Mona Vale





16.10.13. Mona Vale, Bath House view: Avon River

By Christchurch Girls HS sports ground, the other gatehouse ghost: boarded windows, black plastic / boarded roof damages, steel mesh fence cordoned. Pre quakes, Council had used the bldg as a Botanical Services office. The garden was used as a nursery for park plants. Back gate sign:

   PRIVATE
RESIDENCE
   PLEASE
KEEP OUT!


Only an idiot would enter that ghost house. The front door was still green stickered, March 2011, NO RESTRICTION ON USE OR OCCUPANCY... Madness of post quake, rapid assessment by Council.


16.10.13. Quake trashed, abandoned, Mona Vale office / gate house











16.10.13. Mona Vale back gate sign

Avon River still rolled on. Five orange, Hi-Vis vested, City Care workmen waded the river, removing river weed using long poles. Weeds floated downstream. Botanical Services workmen weeded flower beds. School girls wandered to school & joggers jogged through the riverside park. The wrought iron gazebo with copper dome & stained glass windows was undamaged by quakes.


16.10.13. Wrought iron gazebo, Mona Vale






I trekked back to Burnside via Matai St West & Straven Rd, quake damaged housing & demolitions hidden by shrubbery & high walls. By the railway opp Mona Vale, on Matai St West cnr, a brick clad ghost had black plastic covering walls & gables. Further on, a 2 storey, Oamaru whitestone house had a broken garden wall & cracked chimney.


16.10.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake abandoned house, Matai St West, by railway opp Mona Vale







16.10.13. Quake repairs, tradesman sign, Matai St West


16.10.13. Quake cracked, Oamaru whitestone chimney, Matai St West



16.10.13. Quake collapsed garden wall, Matai St West


16.10.13. Quake damaged, part repaired house, Matai St West


Straven Rd: Near Christchurch Boys HS, there were several ghosts, contractors doing repairs: asphalters, roofers, painters... Waimairi Stream & Avon River flowed under Straven Rd to Mona Vale, the quake prone houses were built on swampland.


16.10.13. Christchurch Boys High, Straven Rd


16.10.13. Quake damaged war memorial, Christchurch BH, Straven Rd



16.10.13. Post quake house repair, Straven Rd



16.10.13. Quake collapsed, garden wall next to Avon River, Straven Rd


16.10.13. Avon River, Straven Rd


16.10.13. SOLD. Real estate sign, Straven Rd


16.10.13. Post quake house repair, Straven Rd


Like quake trashed Mona Vale, the new Council with new mayor Dalziel & mostly new councillors, Council was at a confluence. It could either maintain management weeds grown by Parker's & Marryatt's former Council, or clean up post quake Council whose many managers were overpaid: There were 248 managers, each earning $100 000+ p.a. in a 2 803 Council workforce. (The Press 04.10.13). Ratepayers were ripped off by Council's manager / workman ratio 1:11.


16.10.13. Post quake temp house repair, Straven Rd




The former Council left a mess, with a Crown manager dredging the consents debacle & CERA panting down new councillors' necks. The sooner the Crown manager weeded out superfluous Council managers the better.


16.10.13. Post quake house repair, Straven Rd





16.10.13. Quake damaged garden wall, Straven Rd


*Trekked Fendalton Rd, Matai St West, Straven Rd. 125 images.

Thursday 31.10.13. 4.21am, M4.2 quake, 9km depth, 20km W of Christchurch (GeoNet). Slept through it.

The Press reported big Canterbury quakes since the 04.09.10 Darfield Quake:

Magnitude      Number

M7.0 & above   1
M6.0-M6.9                   3
M5.0-M5.9                   53
M4.0-M4.9                   502
M3.0-M3.9                   404

Coda:

Sunday 12.07.15. TVNZ, OneNews reported that Mona Vale was being repaired. Like Mona Vale, many residences & public bldgs had stood around for years post quakes, before quake repairs.

Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.

See Council boss may get pay rise (The Press / Stuff Co).