Red Zone house valuations - Lianne Dalziel's perspective

In edition 97 (22nd August) of Brendon Burn's Christchurch Earthquake Bulletin Lianne Dalziel has the following comments on house valuations where additional work has been done since 2007. After the offer to red-zone property owners, the issue was repeatedly raised by people, at briefings organised by CERA, whether people who had done up their houses would have those costs considered.The

Insurance companies and the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry

Day 179 - a donation from Papanui

A very kind lady from Papanui sent a cheque for $500. It will be used to buy more building materials to fix uninsured homes of elderly folk damaged by the quakes.

Earthquake Assistance Centre for Red Zone residents

CERA have set up a Residential Red Zone earthquake assistance centre on Breezes Road, at the Avondale Golf Club (in the car park). The contact details are: Avondale Earthquake Assistance Centre (EAC) Avondale Golf Club, 141 Breezes Road, Avondale 10.00 am to 6.30 pm Monday to Friday 0800 RING CERA (0800 7464 2372)The purpose of the Centre is to Provide information and assistance for

AMI update for Kaiapoi and Pines Beach residents

AMI have issued an update for Kaiapoi and Pines Beach residents who were classified as Red Zone yesterday. In addition they want to hear from any customer in those areas who has not had an AMI assessment AND have not had an assessment scheduled. The update is here. .

Community Update 17 August 2011

The Ferrymead Men’s Probus Club meets monthly on the fourth Thursday at Redcliffs Bowling Club, James St, Redcliffs 10am. If you are recently retired or have been retired for some time you will enjoy what Probus has to offer. The meetings are informal with a short business meeting and usual ...

Big demolition rig on the way.

Red Zone letters and legal advice

Those in the Red Zone who promptly returned to CERA the information requested from them, will be getting letters of offer from the government in a day or so. In total about 3,000 letters will be sent out in the first batch.

As these documents vary in content from the standard real estate sale and purchase agreements Gerry Brownlee has made the letters and associated documents available early to the Law Society. The Society has put these on their web ...

Maps & Info on the new Kaiapoi & Pines Beach Red Zones

CERA has a web page where maps, an FAQ, and the Tonkin & Taylor presentation (overheads only) can be viewed or downloaded. There are five maps covering the area. Each one clearly outlines the Red Zoned areas and allows for specific properties to be identified. The maps are: Kaiapoi Ward zones overview Kaiapoi north Kaiapoi south-east Kaiapoi west Pines Beach The FAQ, in PDF form, is

Bartering in Brighton

Kia ora, Hello Brighton folk,

The dunes have seen some funny sites this week: skis strapped to old beer crates to make a sled, snow men and dogs and folk having all sorts of fun; it's nice to find a silver lining on some heavy, antarctic clouds. What have you been getting up to? Post some of your photos to . What's also nice is the response I received on facebook this week to a request about what's open. While the schools remained closed it was certainly nice to see a smiling face ...

Day 174 - starting to clear

Snow slowly melting and slushy. Might be better for building repairs next week.

Saving Red Zone heritage housing

The Red Zone Heritage Housing Association exists to encourage the relocation of older undamaged or repairable houses in the Residential Red Zones. On their blog they describe themselves as: The RZHHA is a not-for-profit organization for homeowners in Christchurch. We are trying to save old (approximately 100 years) ‘repairable’ homes in the Residential Red Zone. Our plan is to move these

Liquefaction explained - CERA's Dr Jan Kupec

Jan Kupec, CERA's chief geotechnical engineer, combines three talents the latter two not often found in engineers: he knows his stuff, he has a sense of humour, and he is good at explaining what he knows. CERA have a video online in which Jan explains liquefaction in the Christchurch context. The video shows the Avonside loop part of Avonside Drive and also Porritt Park. At about 3:50 into

Day 173 - and more snow

Yep - still snowing

Keeping up with CERA news

You can view the updates from CERA on our site here: 

Big demolition toy news

For those who like big toys, the UK's biggest high reach demolition rig at 65 m is coming to Christchurch. It has been purchased by Nikau Contractors Ltd (). A picture of the rig and more information is. 

Day 172 - more snow

Looks like a holiday for a few days because of the latest snow dumping. Looks beautiful outside!

Stone columns to protect Fitzgerald Avenue by the river

Fitzgerald Avenue, just north of the bridge over the Avon, is being strengthened and protected by the use of 600mm wide stone columns inserted into the northbound lane. The Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild website has a brief description of what is being done

Day 169 - a rain day

No building repairs today as previously planned due to the rain. Will try for tomorrow.

Red Cross - Alternative Sewage System Grant

The Red Cross yesterday announced a grant for households that have been without a flushing toilet for 90 days or more. Applications for the grant close on the 9th of September.

The information below is from the Red Cross website )

Sustainable Otautahi – Christchurch

Who killed Economic Growth?

  Addicted to Growth – Post Carbon Institute Clip

St Albans community feedback asked for by CRFU

Hi All

Aged Care Sector Inquiry

Red Cross - Displaced Children Grant

This new grant (announced today) is of $250 per child to assist school children who moved from both their home and their school in the period immediately after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Grant applications close on the 9th of September.

Information about it can be found Full details are listed below.

Day 168 - building crew txt

Quite a few more bods have put their hands up to help with the repairs since the recent news coverage.

Everyone's names are being added to a txt group mailing list. They will all get a cell phone txt message if work is on or off and where to meet. There is no need to reply.

Talking about the draft Central City Plan

Anyone interested in talking with council staff about the contents of the Plan can do so, as the CCC will be having a 2 week road show to bring the Plan to the people. From the council website (here): For two weeks from Tuesday 23 August to Saturday 3 September, a Central City Plan Roadshow will be heading out to our local communities, stopping at various venues throughout Christchurch. This

Central City Plan - FAQ

The CCC's Central City Plan FAQ was updated today. The headings for the additional information are:

Brownlee under fire from Labour - Press headline

MEMORIAL RESERVE COVENANT CAMPAIGN

Tena Koutou,

Images of landslides and rockfalls

Perhaps of more interest to those outside Christchurch who can't do drive-pasts, is the American Geophysical Union (AGU) blog () which has a section dedicated to landslides including rockfalls ().

Featured there this month is a series of entries with images of rock falls and slips from the hill suburbs with a small amount of comentary. It starts. There are also a few images from the city centre.

St Albans Hill? Maybe the future St Albans could be a ski resort?

Earthquake Royal Commission - first technical report

Avon river memorial - the Memorial Reserve Covenant Campaign

A group has been formed to promote the creation of a Memorial Reserve Covenant which will protect the Residential Red Zone along and adjacent to the Avon from future commercial development. Information about the campaign, and a public meeting planned for the afternoon of Sunday the 14th of August, is here. .

MP Lianne Dalziel - Earthquake Information Update: No 19

Lianne's latest Earthquake Information Update is available from the Labour website here. Topics covered are: Government Offer for Residential Red Zone a correction on calculating the value of improvements update on the land purchase options Timeframes for Assessing Orange Zones  Reassessing Green/Red Zones the importance of taking legal advice the government's contribution towards legal

Day 165 - Volunteers come to aid of Addington uninsured

Reprinted from and Monday, August 8 2011.

Ofelia Chambers' uninsured earthquake-damaged Christchurch home is finally getting some attention.

At the weekend, community group Addington Action began repair work on uninsured homes in the area occupied by the elderly.

Mrs Chambers, 69, who is originally from Venezuela, lost her husband when his heart deteriorated after the September earthquake.

Her Macaulay St property, which she owns, was damaged in the February quak ...

Earthquake Update – Brendon Burns

You are welcome to on-pass it – to join email: chchcentral@parliament.govt.nz

The Great St Albans Quiz Night is back!

Friday 2nd September in the St Albans School Hall. Tickets on sale now at the school office 20 per table (with a maximum of 6 people per table.) This year, the ticket price includes supper and a wine tasting provided by Southern Boundary Wines of Waipara! There will be prizes for best team theme/costume, plus spot prizes and a cash bar. This will be our biggest fundraising event this year and is always a

Earthquake Update – Nicky Wagner

Hello everyone

St Albans Residents Association Meeting.

August 9th @ 7.30pm. Abberley Park Hall.

Day 164 - It was freezing

We must have been mad, but 3 of us from Addington Action went back today to finish off the fence on Macaulay St. There had been a cold Southerly blow over earlier in the day, and still a lot of biting chill in the air. But the job got done.

Must remember to get hold of some old swannies for loaning the volunteers on cold days.

EQC and depreciation on contents claims

The following experience is from today's Avonside Community Group newsletter. I live in Retreat Road and wanted to share my experience with EQC today over our February contents claim as a warning for others.We were sent the contents settlement detail with a value for each of the items and a total claim value (less than $20,000), however a depreciation value had been taken off all of the

Day 163 - 1st home repaired with pizza

12 sturdy souls took part in the first day of uninsured house repairs. James Roberts came from Comcare along with 3 young lads (Alex, Callum and Tim) who helped out plus his dad Owen. Both James and Owen are trained builders.

Phil Nussbaumer (a local builder), Tony McDonald and John McNeil from Spreydon Baptist formed another team.

Local residents Ofelia and "Nine" helped clear up the section and Lynette Neill put on heaps of jam scones, and warmed up the pizzas donated b ...

Its tough in China

Some of us in or next to the hill suburbs, and in the Residential Red Zone, will not be glad to be leaving our properties. A few will decide to ignore the requirement to move, and wait it out. The time will come when there is an ultimatum: move immediately or be forcibly removed. In China such situations are commonplace, and carried out with a lot less due process. The following article is

Insurance and Savings Ombudsman and Disputes

The New Zealand Herald had an item in today's edition on insurance disputes and the Insurance and Savings Ombudsman (ISO). Written by Janine Starks, it briefly covers the role of the ISO and the way it can operate. Chances are we will soon see insurance companies modifying their own procedures to get early resolution of disputes, but recourse to the ISO is always a possibility. The article

Day 162 - 1st house repair 9am tomorrow

Last minute preparations are being made for the repairs which start tomorrow.

If you want to help

The jobs are

Weather looks OK - should be fun!

Rebuilds - smaller houses

Timber interiors and exteriors. There is a show home at Hornby, opposite McDonalds, however it is much bigger than 150sq m. Lockwood homes have a range of smaller homes that look okay on paper but need a walk through. The web site allows you to download some of the plans (look for the Initial series) but unfortunately it is locked so they can't be printed out. Not really user friendly; nice houses though.

Day 161 - building materials ordered

Today I got to spend $5,003.81 at Bunnings on building materials for repairing 20 uninsured homes of elderly Addington residents.

The stuff has been stockpiled in a loaned garage to make it quick and easy to get anything needed.

They gave us a very good discount, so thanks Penny and the trade department crew.

Got a bit of everything likely to be needed but will need to buy more once it becomes obvious what gets used up the most. The dosh came from Rotary Earthquake Fund ...

The Mairehau

Aug 2011

Geotechnical reports: transparency and accountability

Many in the Residential Red Zone will have a general understanding why their land has been put in that category, others won't be sure. Some living on the margins inside the Green Zones will not be confident about the decision to place them there. Quite a few in-betweeners may find their eventual classification a bit of a mystery. The only way to encourage understanding and confidence is to make publicly available the same detailed geotechnical information that was provided to the gov ...

The snow melts: Spring is around the corner!

Kia ora, Hello Brighton folk,

We often think of our Brighton as Christchurch's best kept secret, the jewel in the city's crown. I haven't always lived in Brighton, but I do remember it fondly from visits with my grandparents when I was a kid- ice creams on hot days with legs dangling over the sea wall... When I came back to Christchurch a few years ago there was no doubt that I was going to come and find my little place by the sea; the 'decider' was meeti ...

Day 160 - 25 gas heaters

Two trailer loads of free gas heaters were picked up today to distribute to freezing homes. NZ Baptist churches has been providing gas heaters to organisations to distribute. A full gas bottle is included.

Addington Action was able to order 25 heaters just in time before they ran out. The heaters will be delivered by Friday.

Day 159 - Plains FM interview

Today, Canterbury University journalism student Shelley Nahr recorded a radio interview with me for a programme next Monday morning at 7am on Plains FM.

The interview was about why the need to repair uninsured homes.
All good questions.

Cardboard Cathedral

Not everyone is happy with the idea of spending $4m on a cardboard cathedral (surely more useful than a $2m plastic waka). They are entitled to their opinion however their priorities, while understandable, are not universal. I for one would happily stick with the chemical toilet for another month or three for a sung evensong on a winter's night. That would bring me more solace than a porcelain flushing loo. Each to their own, without trying to denigrate or rob t ...

Day 158 - to many referrers and not enough workers

The one useful thing I learned at the conference last Friday was that

Every group is referring people for assistance, and there ain't enough workers to do the assisting.

Addington Action has been forwarding the names of families so that they can be seen by a social worker to help them dig themselves out of what ever hole they have ended up in.

The queues are getting longer and the social workers are looking more stressed as the social crisis deepens in Christchurch ...

Timing of Orange zone decisions

Roger Sutton released a media update today covering the Housing Expo and other things.

Amongst the information in the media update was the following:

Family Fun Day

A quake-safe house

Home insurance issues

The current New Zealand Listener (July 30 to August 5) has an interesting article on home insurance and what it describes as the "The home insurance crisis - what you must know". Not quite the reveal all the title suggests but a good read on some of the background to household insurance in New Zealand, issues for earthquake claimants, and the increases premiums everyone in New Zealand will

Community Update July 28 2011