Friday, June 22, 2012

Year 2 CERA. 24 Carat Bullshit. CERA Zoning Review, Housing Crisis

24 Carat Bullshit, CERA Zoning Review, Housing Crisis, New Brighton focus. Sat 23.06.12. 0.42am, M4.0 quake, 12km depth, 10km NE of Christchurch (GeoNet). Slept through it.

Over the last few weeks, there'd been 24 carat bullshit from NZ National govt regarding Christchurch quakes, land zoning decisions:

CERA minister Brownlee: "There is no housing crisis..."

Last week, Brownlee announced that CERA would conduct a zoning review for residential homeowners who wanted a review from green zone to red zone, or vice versa. Never mind that over 5 000 home owners had already signed NZ National govt red zone offers to buy their quake trashed land, doling out red zoners their own insurance money.

The Press 22.06.12. Minister of housing Phil Heatley, same bullshit as Brownlee: "I  wouldn't call it a crisis, but there is no doubt some people are under some housing pressures."

PM Key's National party, 05.06.12 letter we received:

"Our progress includes...

*Making purchase offers to more than 6 000 residential red zone homeowners, two-thirds of which have been accepted.

*Fast-tracking planning permission to make thousands of new residential sections available in new subdivisions on safe land..."

Key's statement surely showed a housing crisis.

The Star, 22.06.12. CERA boss Sutton's bullshit: "So just to clarify, this is a green zone and red zone review, not white zone. Technical Categories are not part of what the advisory [review] group will look at.

The advisory group's brief is to check that the original zoning is consistent with the criteria agreed by the government, or to see if there are anomalies with the boundary designations, or if the infrastructure in the specific area would not actually be viable to maintain."

Sutton's bullshit omitted saying that all green zone land were Technical Categories TC1, TC2, or TC3. Our Burnside rental land was TC1, no problem shingle land, no land repair needed.

Sutton implied that CERA refused to review TC3 land, which was severely liquefactioned in quakes, like Parklands East, leaving all those TC3 green zoners doomed by NZ National govt decree to expensively fixing quake crapped land & trashed housing, with expensively repaired, untested foundations.

The Press 22.06.12. Sutton changed his tune: "The review is looking at the green and red zones only. While people who are green zone will have a Technical Category, it is not that part of the designation that the advisory group will be reviewing..."

Crazy that CERA would only review some green zone & red zone properties, but not green-blue TC3 properties. Zoning review fairness? What a mess!

Meanwhile Sutton had posted letters to mostly green zone Baker St residents saying their zoning wouldn't change. (What was the point of a zoning review?) There were a few red zone houses in Baker St, which was badly liquefactioned by quakes. Residents said they would take CERA to court. Sutton then changed his tune & said some review changes would happen. (The Press 18.07.12).

Why did CERA come up with a review process only after scores of red zone houses were already demolished?

Fri 29.06.12. Brownlee announced Port Hills rezoning from white zone to 1 107 green zone & 285 red zone properties, with 166 white zoners still awaiting geotech assessment (One News).

It took geotech assessment / CERA 16 months since the 22.02.11 Killer Quake to ascertain some houses were in danger of cliff fall, rock fall or land slip, most of which could be visually verified.

CERA website read: "The cost of buying the 285 red zone properties will be shared equally by the Crown and the Christchurch City Council and is expected to be around $205 million, taking into account purchase price and transaction costs."

Rationale for ratepayers having to cough up for Port Hills red zone properties (but not flats red zone properties): Council was responsible for ameliorating Port Hills rock fall hazards above houses it had consented for Port Hills development.

So far during our 17 years in Christchurch, we saw many new houses & apartments built along Nayland St, Wakefield Ave, Heberden Ave, Sumner & Whitewash Head, Scarborough, all in obvious rock fall & cliff collapse places. Ditto new houses built below rock fall bluffs at Stonehaven Tce, Hillsborough.

As anyone could see that building on top of a cliff, or below a cliff, like Redcliffs & Sumner, would endanger people & housing to cliff collapse & rock fall, why did Council consent building all those new houses in dangerous Port Hills places?

Key, Brownlee, Heatley & Sutton could take a night drive along any Avon River road & some roads going off riverside roads to see land & housing devastation & dare to deny the housing crisis! They'd need strong constitutions, compassion, good car lights as lights were gone in the ghost suburbs & strong shocks. A suggested eastern suburban night drive: From Anzac Bridge, drive a night circuit along red zone, flooded, New Brighton Rd, past red zone Barkers Ln, Waygreen Ave, Wattle Dr, Bower Ave junctions, past red zone Wainoni Rd Bridge, Palmers Rd, Baker St, Rawson St, Pratt St junctions to Pages Rd Bridge. Cross Avon River & drive down red zone Pages Rd, past Waitaki St & Bexley Rd back to Anzac Dr. Those roads would show quake devastation & the folly of Council housing consents for swamplands.

Saturday 23.02.12. I trekked from Barkers Ln, near Anzac Bridge, to Pages Rd Bridge, 2km distance, by red zone, ghost houses, while zigzagging across quake-trashed New Brighton Rd & along Avon River stopbank. Mostly empty, quake trashed houses were more derelict than what I'd seen in January-February, when I'd trekked New Brighton quake-trashed roads.


23.06.12. New Brighton Rd stopbank, upstream view, Avon River, quake damaged, Anzac Bridge

New Brighton Rd: The worst quake damaged road in Christchurch: patch repaired, lumpy, bumpy, potholed, cracked, liquefaction mud & flooded sinkholes beside the road. Never mind wear & tear on traffic forced to use it. Sixteen months post 22.02.11 Killer Quake, it was time SCIRT repaired it properly, instead of puny patch repairs.


23.06.12. Liquefactioned, flooded sinkhole, New Brighton Rd, nr Barkers Ln. Avon River stopbank right


23.06.12. Quake skewed, power pole by liquefactioned roadside, New Brighton Rd, nr Barkers Ln. Avon River stopbank left

Barkers Ln: 16 months post 22.02.11 Killer Quake, still thick, liquefaction muddied. Thick, liquefaction mud was still in many New Brighton Rd gardens & driveways. Ghost: Kate Sheppard Retirement Village was part demolished. Kate Sheppard elderly homeowners were not included in NZ National govt, red zone pay out offers, yet Kate Sheppard complex was red zoned. The complex owner scammed the elderly by taking a cut of the original home payments by the elderly, before paying elderly residents. Not enough to restart elsewhere properly. Never mind homeowners having paid insurance on their homes. (Weekend Press, 23-24/06/12).

No housing crisis Brownlee & Heatley?

2015. Luke would do salvage work at some of the last Kate Sheppard housing before demolition.


23.06.12. Avon River stopbanks, New Brighton Rd / Barkers Ln junction. Quake tilted house right


23.06.12. Liquefaction mud, quake rubble, Kate Sheppard Retirement Village gate, Barkers Ln


23.06.12. Part demolished, Kate Sheppard housing, amidst liquefaction mud, Barkers Ln


23.06.12. Quake broken, boundary wall, Kate Sheppard Retirement Village, New Brighton Rd

New Brighton Rd: Several red zone, house demolition sites, amidst quaked ghost houses: tilted houses, boarded windows, liquefactioned driveways, skewed power poles. 


23.06.12. Red zone house, New Brighton Rd, nr Waygreen Ave


23.06.12. Red zone, Waygreen Ave / New Brighton Rd junction. Avon River stopbank right


23.06.12. Red zone, CERA house demolition site, New Brighton Rd, nr Waygreen Ave


23.06.12. Red zone, boarded house, New Brighton Rd



23.06.12. Quake skewed, power poles, New Brighton Rd, nr Wattle Dr. Avon River stopbank right

A blue, plastic, water pipe snaked along New Brighton Rd pavement, water for the hardy few still enduring the residential red zone. No housing crisis huh?


23.06.12. Blue, plastic, water pipe on pavement, by quake broken, garden wall, New Brighton Rd



23.06.12. Avon River, swamp reeds growing in red zone garden, New Brighton Rd

Most red zone, ghost houses had an Orion, green, power-cut sticker on a window:

              ATTENTION
POWER HAS BEEN REMOVED


23.06.12. Red zone house, green, power-cut sticker on window, New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Red zone, quake damaged house, New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Red zone, CERA house demolition site, New Brighton Rd

Some empty properties had letterboxes & garages without housing, due to CERA demolitions. Overgrown garden, fallen sign:

CERA
Canterbury Earthquake
Recovery Authority
Red Zone Property Clearance Programme

Better that CERA demolished red zone, ghost houses soon, as empty houses attracted hooligans, taggers, thieves, vagrants, arsonists.


23.06.12. CERA, Red Zone Property Clearance sign, by quake trashed house, New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Red zone, quake trashed house, New Brighton Rd




23.06.12. Red zone, quake trashed, brick letterbox, New Brighton Rd

Wainoni Rd Bridge: The footpath was repaired since I'd last trekked by. Quake survivors, Bower Park opp Wainoni Rd Bridge & Jubilee Walk along Avon River stopbank were intact, signs of future, green sustainability of the red zone.


23.06.12. Road sign nr Wainoni Rd Bridge, New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Post quake, Bower Park bldg, New Brighton Rd, nr Wainoni Rd Bridge


23.06.12. Red zone, Avon River stopbank, downstream view, quake damaged Wainoni Rd Bridge


23.06.12. Red zone, post quake, repaired footpath, Wainoni Rd Bridge / New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Red zone, Jubilee Walk sign, Avon River stopbank, New Brighton Rd

Bower Ave: Dissatisfaction with EQC, pole sign:

       ReBuildMe
   Tired of waiting
        for EQC?
EQC REPAIRS NOW...

EQC dealings with claimants & house repairs would be a mess from beginning to infinity. In April 2015, there would still be complaints from claimants in The Press about EQC's / Fletcher's shoddy repairs.



23.06.12. Red zone, road signs, Bower Ave / New Brighton Rd junction. Avon River stopbank behind

Bakery on Bower was still open, relocated to Wairakei Rd. Bakery window, printed & hand-written signs:

Dear Customer, Bakery
on Bower will be
closing for a while but
Aorangi Bakery is still
open. It is located at
... Wairakei Rd
Bryndwr...

                      Dear customers,
We have temporary moved to Aorangi Bakery
         ... Wairakei Rd. Bryndwr...
         until Bakery on Bower
premises back up and running.
     We look forward to seeing you in future.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
          Kind regards
                               Serey + Mey

Aorangi Bakery was near our Burnside rental. Many quake trashed businesses had relocated to safer suburbs, some far from their original premises.


23.06.12. Post quake, open dairy, closed, relocated bakery, Bower Ave, nr New Brighton Rd





23.06.12. Post quake, relocated business sign, Bower Ave / New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Red zone, quake trashed, empty house, New Brighton Rd, nr Bower Ave

New Brighton Rd: Some red zone, ghost windows were shattered by stone throwers.


23.06.12. Broken window, red zone house, New Brighton Rd, nr Bower Ave


23.06.12. Quake trashed, red zone house, New Brighton Rd, nr Bower Ave






23.06.12. Quake rubbish, New Brighton Rd



23.06.12. Red zone house by CERA house demolition site, New Brighton Rd

Surfside Veterinary Clinic ghost, closed since the 22.02.11 Killer Quake, New Brighton Rd. Surfside Vet Clinic window, printed & handwritten signs:

Surfside Vet Clinic is now closed.
   permanently due to earthquake
                  damage.
All our animals' notes have been
transferred to Our Vets Parklands
and St Albans. Please contact
either Clinic for any help...

Sorry for any inconvenience

Have a great day.

          Closed

We have closed but
Parklands Vet is fully functional...

Pets were stressed by quakes too. I'd seen lost pet signs on power poles & shop windows.


23.06.12. Red zone, closed, Surf Side Veterinary Clinic, New Brighton Rd





23.06.12. Red zone garage by CERA house demolition site, New Brighton Rd

New Brighton Rd / Palmers Rd: Boarded Council ghost, closed since the 22.02.12 Killer Quake. The bldg would be demolished. I spoke to an old woman awaiting a bus at Palmers Rd cnr: "Houses look worse than what I'd seen months ago." Without a word, she raised her hands & shrugged. House cnrs were often L step cracked due to quake shaking & twisting.


23.06.12. Red zone, New Brighton Rd by Palmers Rd junction. Avon River stopbank right


23.06.12. Red zone, quake trashed, boarded Council bldg, Palmers Rd / New Brighton Rd. The bldg would be demolished



23.06.12. Quake trashed, liquefactioned red zone house, New Brighton Rd



23.06.12. Broken window, red zone house, New Brighton Rd
 


23.06.12. Liquefaction broken drain, New Brighton Rd. Avon River stopbank right


23.06.12. Red zone, repaired roof, Baker St / New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Quake junk by red zone house, New Brighton Rd



23.06.12. Quake skewed door, red zone house, New Brighton Rd

New Brighton Rd / Rawson St: Dairy was still open. Blue Telecom booth, still quake-tilted. Red & black TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE sign by Rawson St cnr, due to sewer renewal on Keyes Rd. Yellow & black EARTHQUAKE CONTACTS sign on a power pole. Saw those signs all over Christchurch.


23.06.12. Red zone, Rawson St / New Brighton Rd. Avon River stopbank right


23.06.12. Red zone, TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE sign, Rawson St


23.06.12. Red zone, EARTHQUAKE CONTACTS sign on power pole, Rawson St


23.06.12. Red zone, quake skewed, telecom booth, open dairy, Rawson St / New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Quake trashed, liquefactioned, red zone house, New Brighton Rd, nr Rawson St




23.06.12. Red zone, liquefactioned house, New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. CERA house demolition site & red zone house, New Brighton Rd



23.06.12. Red zone, liquefactioned driveway, New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. CERA House demolition site & red zone house, New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Red zone, liquefaction skewed letterbox, New Brighton Rd

New Brighton Rd / Pratt St: PRE-SCHOOL ANNABEL'S EDUCARE sign on roadside. TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE sign on cnr, due to sewer renewal on Keyes Rd.
 

23.06.12. Red zone, Pratt St / New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Red zone, Annabel's Educare sign & quake trashed drain, Pratt St / New Brighton Rd. Avon River stopbank beyond


23.06.12. Red zone, TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE sign on liquefaction mud, Pratt St / New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Boarded, braced, red zone house, Pratt St / New Brighton Rd




23.06.12. Red zone, quake fallen, garden wall, New Brighton Rd, nr Pratt St. Avon River stopbank right.

 

23.06.12. Boarded, red zone house, New Brighton Rd, nr Pratt St


23.06.12. Liquefactioned, red zone house, New Brighton Rd, nr Pratt St


23.06.12. Quake junked, red zone house, New Brighton Rd, nr Pratt St



23.06.12. Liquefactioned driveway, red zone house, CERA demolition site, New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Liquefactioned, red zone driveway, New Brighton Rd


23.06.12. Red zone, snow & quake trashed garden wall, New Brighton Rd

Ghosts: Six New Brighton Rd flats, near Pages Rd Bridge, with Orion green stickers on windows & skewed front doors. The 22.02.11 Killer Quake had tilted & shifted the concrete slab foundation more than a foot in places.

Whatever the thickness of proposed new concrete slab foundations, on so-called, green-blue, TC3 damaged land, in future big quakes, houses would still slide, sink or tilt on sandy soils. Geotech engineers & NZ National govt expected residents to stay & repair houses on TC3 land. Never mind nearby red zone houses paid out & demolished by CERA. No housing crisis huh? 


23.06.12. Red zone, 6 quake trashed flats, New Brighton Rd, nr Pages Rd














23.06.12. New Brighton Rd, red zone, Avon River, stopbank view, Pages Rd Bridge

Pages Rd Bridge: Some road repairs, but big ski jump bumps on the road at both abutment joins. New Brighton Rd, bridge threat sign:

  POLLUTED
     WATER
PLEASE AVOID
   CONTACT

Those signs had hung along Avon River banks for months.


23.06.12. Red zone, Polluted Water sign, Pages Rd Bridge

Pages Rd: Although my digital Samsung's lead-crystal went on the blink, I snapped blind pics of Pages Rd, shopping centre ghosts, incl quake & vandal trashed MAD DOG PIZZA & ROBBIE'S BAR & BISTRO. Food signs & ads were frozen in 22.02.11 Killer Quake time. The shops & bar would be demolished.


23.06.12. Red zone, quake trashed, vandalized shop, Pages Rd, nr Avon River. The shop would be demolished



23.06.12. Red zone, quake trashed, vandalized Robbie's Bar & Bistro, Pages Rd, nr Avon River. Robbies Bar & Bistro would be demolished






Continuing my blind pics, Pages Rd side of Avon River, I trekked past graffiti, broken windows & doors, vandalized red zone, ghost houses along the stopbank, as far as Mitcham Pl & Fordingbridge Ln, where there were more CERA house demolition sites. A pinch-faced woman toting shopping bags passed, no greeting, no eye contact.


23.06.12. Pages Rd red zone, Avon River stopbank view, Pages Rd Bridge 


23.06.12. Red zone, stopbank view, black swan in Avon River, nr Pages Rd Bridge


23.06.12. Avon River stopbank view, quake trashed, vandalized, red zone house, nr Mitcham Pl



23.06.12. Avon River stopbank view, part demolished, red zone house, Mitcham Pl



23.06.12. Avon River stopbank view, quake trashed, vandalized, red zone house, Mitcham Pl




23.06.12. Avon River stopbank view, part demolished, red zone house, Micham Pl




23.06.12. Quake trashed, vandalized, red zone garage, Mitcham Pl


23.06.12. Quake cracked, sandbagged stopbank view of Avon River. House was built too close to Avon River

Given the new graffiti & vandalized glass doors & windows, there were many disaffected people in New Brighton. Over the next few years Christchurch ghosts would attract more vandalism & tagging. The longer CERA delayed demolishing red zone ghosts the more vandalism & tagging abounded. Tagging showed a bldg was abandoned.

Mitcham Pl, threat sign: 

      DANGER
TRACK CLOSED
     KEEP OUT


BS. Avon River stopbanks were not dangerous for walkers. CERA, Council & cops dissembled about vandalism of red zone properties. Another sign:

FOOTPATH
  CLOSED


23.06.12. Red zone, house demolition site, Fordingbridge Ln, nr Avon River

Who were the vandals?

Taggers?

Stone throwers?

Demolishers?

CERA / NZ National govt?

*Trekked New Brighton Rd, Pages Rd, Mitcham Pl. 124 images.

Could PM Key, Brownlee, Heatley & Sutton live in restrictive conditions CERA expected Christchurch citizens to endure? Opening their eyes, they'd see Avon River forming clean, green, NZ again, amidst liquefaction mud, demolition dust & shattered glass. Plant succession already grew pioneer, swamp reeds in liquefaction mud in ghost gardens, New Brighton Rd, Waygreen Ave, Wattle Dr... Why were houses consented & built on that Avon River swampland in the first place?

If NZ National govt / CERA still deluded themselves there was no housing crisis, they could detour off New Brighton Rd again, for a night-time, upriver drive, to see black-hole, riverside houses, 100s of ghost houses, potholes, sinkholes, flooding along Locksley Ave, Dallington Tce & River Rd. Cross Stanmore Rd Bridge & drive downriver all the way along Avonside Dr to Avondale Rd Bridge. See 100s more ghost houses, potholes, sinkholes & flooding. Why were vehicle WOFs harder to pass since the quakes?

Every house in Christchurch was in crisis, whether quake trashed or not. Our Burnside rental had withstood 10 000+ quakes, so far & shook whenever a quake was M4 or more.

Wed 27.06.12. The Press reported that although town clerk Marryatt had pre quakes, under-insured Council assets, councillors had voted an average 7.8% rates increase to pay for a Blueprint Convention Centre, new roofed Stadium, restored Town Hall, 2 repaired, carpark garages... Councillors & mayor Parker were bowing to CERA pressure, as they hadn't a clue what insurance payouts for Council's quake trashed assets would be for quake damaged, Town Hall, Convention Centre, AMI Stadium...

Thurs 28.06.12. The Press reported Maori affairs Minister, Pita Sharples advising car dwellers to squat in red zone housing: "If they are living in a car and they are cold they should just occupy one of those houses."

Brownlee's rebuttal: "It is not appropriate for people to squat in red zone houses & it's not appropriate for the minister to make comments like that."

No housing crisis huh? Brownlee & Sharples could drive along Marine Pde & Estuary Rd to Southshore to see parked cars along New Brighton & Southshore beaches after 11pm. Appropriate or not, car dwellers were there. While CERA's nearby Rawhiti Domain, small, temporary housing village was still being built.

Thurs 28.06.12, 9.26am, M4 quake, 10km depth, 10km E of Belfast (GeoNet). Closer to New Brighton. I didn't feel it in Burnside.

The Press, Fri 29.06.12, reported PM Key in housing crisis denial, like ministers Brownlee & Heatley: "Well I think Gerry Brownlee is right... It is not to say that there aren't individual examples where people are in hardship. There will be, and we actively and strongly encourage them to come to the Government and we will give them support. Reach out to us and we will give you some help."

PM Key could add up the individual, 7 000+ red zone houses, so far. Red zone housing land was deemed unfit to fix by CERA / NZ National govt. 28 000 green-blue zone, TC3 houses on quake damaged land were deemed fit to fix by CERA / National govt. No housing crisis huh?

Fri 29.06.12, 12.10pm, M4 quake, 10km depth, 10km E of Christchurch (GeoNet). Rumbled by at Burnside. Nearer to the epicentre, Leah said it jolted & shook her London St school. Furthest from the epicentre, Luke didn't feel it at Hornby. With M4 quakes there was always the expectation: Will worse come?

Tues 03.07.12. Full moon night, 10.36pm, M7 quake, 230km depth, 60km S of Opunake, S Taranaki Bight (GeoNet).

I was in my parked car, Estuary Rd, Southshore, waiting for Luke. Felt a small quake, thought it was wind shaking my car. Few minutes later the big quake bounced my car a while. Felt like a M4. I thought, "Now I know what New Brighton & Southshore feels in all those quakes." I was ready to jump out of my car parked on a SCIRT refilled excavation, as I thought I may end up in a sinkhole.

Leah felt the fore-quake then the big M7 quake, felt from Hawkes Bay to Otago, at Burnside too. "It rocked our house," she said.

Seismologists were good at recording quakes but useless at predictions. Good at vague statistics & vague advice post quakes, but as useless as Christchurch Council inspectors, structural engineer David Coatsworth, bldg manager John Drew & bldg owner inspecting quake damaged CTV bldg post 04.09.10 Darfield Quake.

Fri 06.07.12, 3.29pm, M4.8 quake, 11km depth, 20km SE of Darfield, near Rolleston (GeoNet). Close to the epicentre, the quake jolted & bounced my car for about 10 seconds, while Luke & I waited at Halswell Junction Rd / Shands Rd traffic lights, Hornby. A loooong 10 seconds.

Further from the epicentre, Leah at her London St school, near the CBD, said the school shook strongly at first, then trembled a while.

Meanwhile Australian govt, tourist advisors warned Aussies against visiting Christchurch due to quake dangers. That got Christchurch, tourism touts in a tizz.

Housing crisis again, Weekend Press, 7-8.07.12 headline: "RENTS UP 26% AS SUPPLY DROPS." 

Brownlee bullshit: "In dollar terms, what does 26 percent increase in Christchurch mean compared to a four percent increase in Auckland!"

Comparing the two cities was daft, as the further south one went in NZ, the cheaper properties became, especially rural towns. And the smaller wages became too. Given the destruction of Christchurch CBD by quakes & CERA demolitions, Christchurch suburbia was a matrix of quaked areas, some completely destroyed by quakes & demolitions, while awaiting NZ National govt's / CERA's painfully slow CBD rebuild.

So far, Christchurch had endured 1 000s of quakes for nearly 2 years, trashing 1 000s of commercial & residential bldgs, then NZ National govt / CERA had bureaucratically created a housing crisis by red zoning & green-blue TC3 zoning 10s of 1000s of houses for compensation & mainly repairs, while condoning slow settlements by EQC & insurers.

To date, there was inadequate, Christchurch, rental housing (some over-priced) inadequate housing developments & inadequate, reasonably priced lots for sale on affordable, safe land to replace red zone housing.

Only on Sunday, 08.07.12, 22 months post 04.09.10 Darfield Quake, would Rawhiti domain, temporary housing open for public viewing, (20 two bedroom temporary houses) as CERA had wasted months, before starting Rawhiti temporary housing construction.

Only last week did CERA / NZ National govt, rezone most Port Hills, white zone houses to red or green zone, white rezoning still incompleted. So far: 7 200 red zone properties & 28 000 green-blue TC3 properties.

With all the demolitions of red zone & some TC3 properties, without simultaneous rebuilds, of course there was a housing crisis. Annette King, Labour's spokeswoman: "There is a housing crisis. The self denial and self delusion from our political leaders [National] is unbelievable. Only a fool would say there is no problem. Unfortunately we have three fools, Mr Key, Mr Brownlee & Mr Heatley." King forgot Mr Sutton & Mr Sharples too.

Coda:

By Jan 2014, many of the Barkers Ln, Waygreen Ave, Wattle Dr, New Brighton Rd & Mitcham Pl red zone, ghost houses would be demolished by CERA. The Pages Rd ghost shops by Pages Rd Bridge would be demolished by CERA. There was no talk by CERA of rebuilding any of those demolished red zone shops or houses. Those who thought red zoners were complainers should view quake & CERA red zone devastation along those roads, for a start. There was much more.

Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.

See Heatley rejects housing claims (The Press / Stuff Co). 

See Hundreds more ask for zoning review (The Press / Stuff Co). 

See Elderly: Why have we been abandoned? (The Press / Stuff Co). 

See More flexibility to set Christchurch rates (NZ local govt minister David Carter).

See squatting in red zone encouraged (The Press Stuff Co).

See CERA Land Information regarding Port Hills zoning (CERA website).

See Brownlee - Rising housing demand positive for city's future (The Press / Stuff Co).

See Sutton softens on zone changes (The Press / Stuff Co).