Fear and loathing in New Christchurch

Many months ago, the minister for rebuilding Christchurch, Gerry Brownlee, stated that the 'old dungers' (heritage buildings) had to come down as he perceived them to be dangerous, regardless of the fact that the greatest number of fatalities were cause by the collapse of buildings that were relatively new.
     Well, now we have the fruit of that attitude. The new Government plan for the rebuild came out yesterday, and makes somewhat grim reading. The govt. have decided the shape of the new Christchurch will include a rugby stadium, a conference centre, etc etc, all erected with money from the ratepayers of Christchurch. (Yes, the government makes the Plan compulsory, but does nothing to fund it - is this democratic? they will force us to pay for their monuments to their own posterity).
      The CBD will be "framed" by a green swath on either side of the city, which sounds wonderful, but anything left standing in this designated green area is to come down regardless of the condition of the building. The NG building, the darker building in the photo behind the bull, was one of the buildings that withstood the quakes. It's owners have reopened their jewellery and design business here, and the city art gallery is using part of the space for displays. The building is both safe and functioning. But now it will be demolished to make way for a sports stadium. Yes, just because it's in the way of the almighty Plan. Way to go, NZ govt. - destroy anything left standing to "align with the Plan". The NG building is like a little rock, and I feel for the owners. They've done all the right things, strengthening the building, refitting the interior, and now it's to be bulldozed for a bloody stadium, which ratepayers can't pay for and don't need. The government will offer them a price, and if they don't take it, it will be 'compulsorily acquired", i.e. taken off them. This is Big Government bullying at its best. As if we haven't had enough destruction! Christchurch has become a real-time Lego-land for big boys to play bulldozers in.
      Oh, bugger, bugger, bugger them. Take your stadium and shove it.

Post-earthquake ramifications

Another Christchurch building was closed yesterday, yes, two years after the first of our earthquakes. South Library, the only library to be open pretty much all through the months following the disaster, closed yesterday after a detailed building survey. It's not that the building is structurally damaged or a huge risk to people in there, but the land underneath the building is slumping. To what degree the land has slumped or whether it's continuing or how fast it's going is still to be found out. The building fronts onto a river, so presumably the land is pretty soft and wet. This is going to be a big loss to the south Christchurch community, as our other large library, Linwood, is indefinitely closed, I think to be rebuilt eventually. It's also a big blow to the staff, who will now have to be located in other libraries, often far away from their homes, in different teams with different colleagues.
News also that our Art Gallery, a brand new building that was Civil Defence headquarters for many months, will have to be lifted and placed on rubber foundations. This is going to cost a whopping $36 million dollars! Of course, there are questions. Why were the foundations not earthquake proof in the first place? Answer: it would have cost too much and the chances of having an earthquake in Christchurch were regarded as slim. So we gambled on this probability and lost.
This is something that we didn't think of, that the earthquakes were a disaster that would have long-term effects. Yes, we got used to the physical aftershocks (well, sort of), but the ongoing knock-on effects in every sphere of life that you can think of were not something that we considered. It's very disheartening, even for those whose homes and liveliehoods were not destroyed. The city falls down, you build it again, right? But if the land underneath has changed, and is now a jellyish sponge, what can you rebuild? Ho hum. Two steps forward, one step back.

Oh no, not again!

This was the headline on Monday's paper after a swarm of aftershocks hit the city on Boxing Day. I had my Mum staying over for Christmas and we were both awakened by the first shock at about 12.00 on Christmas Night. (I'd just put some of the heavy objects back up on my picture rail, just before Christmas, so it was probably my fault). A rocky day followed, with shocks all through Boxing Day, one large one at 10.30am that proved to be epicentred just up the road from my house. The Botanic Gardens recorded the greatest amount of ground acceleration of the series, at 48% of gravity. Whatever that means. Sadly, most of the quakes were under the CBD so doing more damage to buildings, largely superficial but upsetting none the less. No one was injured, thank goodness. (Isn't that a lovely phrase - "thank goodness". The Cathedral was slightly damaged; the Dean was in the middle of a sermon preaching about the stoning of St Stephen when pieces of plaster began to fall down. Powerful preaching indeed. The Anglican convent was also damaged. There was a photograph of the nuns outside, all grinning and taking photos, so I guess they don't think this is the work of a malevolent God. Or at least not their own God.
News in the paper that some of the earthquake damage assessors have been fired due to lack of sensitivity to earthquake victims. Apparently some of the assessors have been taking a hard line and trying to make claimants back off with their claims, by being insulting and aggressive. Some of these people are Australians.
Back at work today. I should go out and have a look around the Gardens, perhaps I'll do it after work. I really need some exercise after all the food at Christmas. Feeling a bit liverish, what the French term "une crise de foie", so salads, fruit and water are the order of the day. Ciao, amici.

After the big one

Well, here I am at last, after the earthquake. Because I have no web access at home, I rely on the library's free internet to post, and what with one thing and another I haven't been able to get to my blog.
The earthquake was very frightening. As a permanent resident of The Shaky Isles I have experienced a few earthquakes, but nothing like this. At half past four 2 weeks ago, I was awakened by what I thought was my cats having a fight on my bed. Then it occured to me that this was not so, as one of them was outside. The shaking got stronger; it was like being inside a cardboard box with some malevolent person kicking and punching the outside of it. A windchime that I hang inside over the winter was clanging and donging as things fell around me. I sheltered in the doorway, as per instructions, and felt the doorway itself tilting backwards and forwards, like an unanchored parallelogram. So I moved under the table and said several "hail Mary's", the phrase "now and at the hour of our deaths" gaining a new vividness and immediacy. I did truly think that I was going to die, as the shaking just went on and on.
But it did stop. I found the whisky bottle, and glory be, there were still a couple of drops left. (Let me here recommend a mouthful of whisky for the purposes of pulling oneself together). I went outside; it was a glorious night, the stars full on, I could even see the little fuzzy patch of the Pleiades. "Do they know what's happened down here?" I thought. Irrational thoughts for irrational times.
To cut a long story short, I and my house and cats and mother are fine. No one died, that is the miracle. If you're going to have an earthquake, go for 4.30 on a Saturday morning. Parts of Christchurch have been badly affected. A friend in Kaiapoi has been made homeless by the 'quake, the area was devastated.
But do not listen to those media (particularly American) who claim that the whole city has been levelled, that mass looting took place, violence, civil disobedience, etc, etc. All absolute crap. Of 2000 buildings in the CBD, only 80 are too dangerous to enter. The CBD was cordoned off for public safety, not to prevent looters. Much of the city is still as it was.
What amazed me was the number of men in flourescent vests who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, men who knew how and could do, blokes with hard hats and tool-belts, taking down dangerous chimneys and shoring up walls, balancing on dangerous roofs and parapets. Great God of Testoterone, they've come to save the city!
I think I'll stop now.