After at least three public protests at places like Cambridge Tce by the Bridge of Remembrance & Netball Courts, Hagley Park, smooth talker Parata (according to PM Key) backtracked & then found it important to visit & "consult" Christchurch school communities. Upshot: Longstone, the Pom Education Secretary of the MoE resigned with a golden handshake!
I was in regular contact with two 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 drove that way. September 2012, South New Brighton School was slated by MoE for merging with Central New Brighton School.
Both schools were eastern suburb schools, London St in the near east close to the CBD, Estuary Rd in far east Southshore close to Avon / Heathcote Estuary & the Pacific. Both schools were battered by quakes over the last two years.
Jean Seabrook Memorial School was near Christchurch Fault, which damaged the CBD in the Boxing Day Quake 2010. South New Brighton School was near Pegasus Bay Fault which damaged eastern suburbs in the Xmas Quake Swarm 2011. Never mind other big quakes shaking Christchurch.
SCIRT infrastructure repairs: For the last two years since 22 February 2011 Quake, we'd endured road-detours while excavations happened all over Christchurch for water-pipe laying & sewage-pipe laying & new infrastructure. SCIRT left road-works a mess: 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 two & a half years, Leah said her pupils were quake-stressed. Staff & parents twice dug Jean Seabrook Memorial School from quakemire, post 22 February 2011 Quake & post 13 June 2011 Quake. Post 22 February 2011 Quake, for weeks London St was a main thoroughfare joining Bealey Ave & Stanmore Rd. Traffic rumbling shook the school disturbing 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 two years post-quakes, there were several Council excavations & SCIRT excavations on London St, all with traffic obstructions & detours. Leah had to find several different routes to access / egress school. Sometimes excavator machines blocked school gates.
Across the road from Leah's school, Cumberland St was detoured & SMF-cordoned while new sewer-pipe excavations progressed.
There was slow demolition of Richmond Working Mens Club across London St from the school. The ruined club was part-demolished to make it safe. It would later be fully demolished & a new Richmond Club would be rebuilt in 2020-21. 2022. During Covid-19 pandemic, Jake would work as a chef at Richmond Club. His previous employer, a Ferrymead caterer became abusive during the pandemic expecting Jake to work excessive night-shift overtime due to staff losses & zero staff recruitment. Jake had to train staff to take over his excessive work-load before his departure!
15.02.13. Steel mesh fence cordon. Richmond Working Mens Club, quake demolition site, London St
2012-13. Full demolition: Diggers bashed the ruined-club & jolted Leah's school across the road. Leah said joltings were worse than quakes. Never mind dust-hazard & asbestos-hazard affecting her school whenever winds blew. Leah got an eye infection & sometimes battled to breathe during club-demolitions. She attributed that to demolition-dust. I suggested she took a mask to school & wear it when not teaching.
Opposite Leah's classroom, two threat-signs on Richmond Working Mens Club's SMF-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 hazard-controls gave an idea of hazards Leah & staff endured for months opposite Richmond Working Mens Club. What damage was done to teachers' lungs during successive demolitions & asbestos removal from Richmond Working Mens Club? Teachers didn't 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 her 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. 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 continually stressed by 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 its toilet facilities, as Leah's school had 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 ruined & demolished.
Richmond School was on prime land near the CBD. Not content with taking residential red-zone properties & CBD red-zone properties, NZ National government 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 with bad tarseal, potholes & bumpy, 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 two Christchurch quake years, so far I'd had one tyre blowout & one tyre puncture, nail in tyre.
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 near the footpath before South New Brighton School. Entrances to the school & nearby homes were blocked by a trench while concrete was laid over pipes. Drivers endured OPRC-cordon detours & SMF-cordons near the school & near 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 SMF-cordoned house, I drove across steel-plates which bridged the road-trench, winged by SMF-cordons & excavator machines. While pumping, a yellow SUPER SILENT pump shook the SMF-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 northwards along Union St.
Monday 18.02.13, One News. MoE confirmed 12 schools would merge & seven schools 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 five months of Canterbury schools' angst, Parata showed MoE incompetence 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-quakes nor post-quake census figures were used by MoE!
For the vast New Brighton / Southshore area, MoE's chopping schools from four to two was insane! Never mind along Breezes Rd where MoE would rationalize five Aranui / Avondale / Wainoni schools into one huge cluster-school. That decision would be deferred by Parata's "interim" spin till March. (March would pass, still no decision by Parata about Aranui cluster-school). In vast eastern suburbs, Wainoni, Aranui, Avondale, Bexley, New Brighton, Southshore, NZ National governmentt planned culling nine schools to three schools!
Never mind kids forced to bus to merged schools with poor bus services. Example: Phillipstown School merged with Woolston School where there was no bus service for the merged kids.
Near home in Burnside, Kendal School would close. Burnside Primary School would stay open for rebuild, although it 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 did technical subjects was closed, 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?
Tuesday 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 stress caused in schools. That was National's "brighter future" was the best Canterbury education taxpayers' $1 billion could buy over the next decade!
NZ National government used quakes as an excuse to revamp Canterbury education. Example: Despite temporary relocation by sharing Van Asch School's Sumner premises, in 2016 Redcliffs School would still battle MoE against closure & forced removal to a new school site closer to Avon-Heathcote Estuary.
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 ruined 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 southern 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 five Aranui / Avondale / Wainoni schools to form the cluster-school: decision in March.
Twilight, Monday 17.02.13: Hazard-lights flashing, I drove down Restart Cashel Mall to fetch a rimu cabinet & fish tank which Luke had bought from ruined Pagoda Court Restaurant, Colombo St. Restart Cashel Mall container-shops were closed for the night, but tourists wandered about.
Pagoda Court Restaurant was ruined in the 22 February 2011 Quake. I saw scattered furniture. I looked across The Crossing's SMF-cordon into the red-zone-CBD at demolition-sites & ruins. Electric lights were switched off. Te Waipounamu House was still being demolished. For Brownlee to spin the red-zone-CBD as Rebuild Zone was laughable. So far, there was no CBD rebuild!
Hazard-lights flashing, when I drove back along Cashel Mall, a sunset glow silhouetted Bridge of Remembrance arch.
Tuesday 18.02.13. One News reported 1 500 protesting teachers, parents & school kids had marched from CBS Arena to the 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, a two-storey ruin would be demolished then replaced by a new, two-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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