Bay Harbour: March 16, 2016

Wednesday <strong>March</strong> <strong>16</strong> 20<strong>16</strong> BAY HARBOUR PAGE 7 neighbourhood NEWS News tips? Email bridget.rutherford@starmedia.kiwi or phone 371 0778 COMMUNITY BUILDING: Chris Doudney and Christine Toner, of the Redcliffs Residents’ Association, want the Redcliffs Community Pavilion to be repaired so it can be used again. Future of pavilion back in discussion BRIDGET RUTHERFORD The future of earthquakedamaged Redcliffs Community Pavilion will be back on the table today. The Hagley-Ferrymead Community Board will again be asked to approve the city council recommendation to transfer the ownership of the building to the Redcliffs Residents’ Association for $1. The association has been working with the city council since early 2015 to try and get the pavilion repaired. But last month, city council staff asked the board to make the transfer to the residents’ association without repairing it. The board decided to defer making a decision for one month so a workshop could be held with all the affected parties. The pavilion sits at the back of Redcliffs Park, next to the road. The city council said there were already five other community facilities in the area, and the $100,000 set aside to repair the pavilion could be better spent elsewhere. But the Redcliffs Residents’ Association just wants the building repaired so it could be used, and did not want to own it. It said the association would not have the means to come up with the money to repair the building. The community board meeting will be held at 3.30pm. School pool to reopen with splash The Heathcote Valley community will celebrate the reopening of its school pool at a special ceremony this week. The school pool was significantly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake and needed to be rebuilt. It reopened to the public in December, but an official opening to celebrate its return and acknowledge the community support will be held on Friday at 2pm. The pool’s return has already proved popular, with more that 140 families and households buying keys for it. School pupils have been receiving swimming lessons and parents have been saying it has had a positive impact on their children’s water confidence and ability. A rebuild plan for the pool was agreed on midway through last year, and the community was faced with raising $350,000 for the repair and the pool-side development. It received a significant grant from the New Zealand Community Trust late last year, as well as a significant earlier grant COMMUNITY ASSET: The Heathcote Valley School Pool will have its official opening ceremony on Friday. from the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust. Almost $330,000 has been raised so far. “The support of the local and wider community for this project has been amazing,” principal Greg Lewis said. “We’ve had really generous donations from more than a dozen local businesses and organisations, such as the Valley Inn Tavern, the Freemasons, Heathcote Valley Preschool, and the Sumner-Ferrymead Foundation. And our school families have really got behind our ‘buy a leaf’ campaign, where families purchase a personalised leaf that will be attached to a vine mural on the pool wall.” Money still needs to be raised to develop the pool-side and adjoining green space. If you would like to donate, search ‘Heathcote’ on www. givealittle.co.nz How are your roads being repaired? • SCIRT’s repair programme is delivering functional and serviceable roads. • The extent of road repairs varies from full reconstruction where there is extensive earthquake damage to isolated patch repairs. • The result may look a little patchy, but will be done to a high standard and the Council will monitor the condition and prioritise further work as part of its maintenance programme. • So far SCIRT has completed 83 per cent of its road repair programme. • After SCIRT completes its work at the end of this year, the Christchurch City Council and NZ Transport Agency will continue road repairs in their programmes. Want more info? Email: info@scirt.co.nz Phone: 941 8999 Find out about work in your area: www.scirt.co.nz Email us on info@scirt.co.nz to get our: Weekly Traffic Update Monthly e-Newsletter Follow us on Twitter: @SCIRT_info #chchtraffic • Campbell Dick, SCIRT Project Manager • Thank you Christchurch for your patience and making us feel welcome in your communities

PAGE 8 BAY HARBOUR Wednesday <strong>March</strong> <strong>16</strong> 20<strong>16</strong> your local Views Something on your mind? Email bridget.rutherford@starmedia.kiwi in 150 words or less Facebook us on facebook.com/riseupchristchurch/ Response to plans to repair the stone cottage on top of Sumner’s Cave Rock: Marie Stanley: Oh it is so important. It is after all an important part of being a Cantabrian. Yes, I know houses still need fixing, but it is equally important to save as much as possible the character and beginnings of this wonderful beautiful city. This is wonderful news. Response to the city council’s decision to temporarily ban freedom camping from French Farm, Wainui and Ferrymead’s Windsport Park: Ian N San, Hamilton: Well I live on the Peninsula and do freedom camp, to be fair folk that don’t freedom camp can be just as bad.....where we live at Kaituna Valley, folk dump rubbish all the time at Sunset point, and they are not freedom campers, just everyday people that can’t be bothered going to the dump!! Chris Mair: Some freedom campers abuse the freedom to camp places for nothing and use it as their own private toilet and dump. Happens in Australia too sad to say. As to how much money these particular tourists spend – err hello, they want somewhere to stay for nothing so I can’t see them being big spenders, like the ones in the park near home . . . could be wrong though (and could be right too). Gabrielle McDonagh: Ferrymead had turned into a toilet, great decision! Pamela Neil: Who is going to police it?? Sally Bowring: So that is the catch-22 isn’t it? People don’t want them there, the council says “No” and then will be blamed for the extra money needed to police the site. Sam Caley: About time!!! How does freedom camping bring money into our economy when they aren’t paying to stay anywhere! Yet our taxes pay for the bins they fill, the grass they kill and it makes our parks look like rubbish dumps or public toilets! Get rid of freedom campers in the city!! Last week <strong>Bay</strong> <strong>Harbour</strong> News asked readers what they thought of the possibility of the Stewart family’s Port Levy bach being removed to make way for city council and Te Runanga O Koukourarata Society developments. Bruce Glennie, Church <strong>Bay</strong>: I think that it is grossly unfair to force the Stewart family to remove the bach, particularly when it occupies around 7 sq m of Te Runanga’s land. Such a small piece of land, a relative postage stamp would not make any difference to their ability to develop the land for new baches. The Stewart family have paid rates to the city council in good faith for over half a century, for what, for the council which gladly took their rates to now kick them off the land. As for Te Runanga O Koukourarata Society, how small-minded and selfish, they really know how to kick a family when they are down. Mary Wilkie: From reading this article and several others lately relating to the bach the Stewarts have owned for many years, the decision to insist this is demolished is quite without any real foundation as to who owns the land. Historically (without being racist) there were other peoples here for longer than the Maori, whom on a technicality, could be called settlers like the rest of us as their tenure is not in the thousands of years but rather several hundred. Does this make them the rightful owners of the land, if so, whom did they purchase it from? They just took over. Where does it give them the right to insist the city council act for their benefit alone. As I understand it there is really only a few metres of land in dispute. If the Stewarts reduce the size of their bach then a compromise would be reached which would be fair to all. Seventy-five years is a long time for a family to have enjoyed what the Maori claim should only be for them to enjoy. It just does not seem a fair resolution. A reader responds to comments in last week’s edition about Redcliffs School: Jean Cory-Wright, Redcliffs: I’d like to say well done to Emma Maguire Alldridge: The Redcliffs School debate is all smoke and mirrors. The Government is using an emotive issue such as child safety to hide the real agenda. The hidden agenda is a rationalisation of schools into mega schools and is probably money driven. The school site has been declared safe by experts. The school site is further away from a cliff than Sumner School is. Both schools are needed in this community. The idea of mega schools has been tested elsewhere in the world and it doesn’t work. With respect, the people who have been writing “safety first” in their emails may not know the full story and may not have read the details in the cliff report. I admire their concern for children but they are not helping the bigger case for the community. They could also be perceived as smoke screens using an emotive shout to cover the background political hidden agenda. So please, read the cliff report, and if you still think it’s unsafe, then lobby for the school to be moved to another Redcliffs site, so that it can continue to exist. At the moment your cries about safety are actually helping the minister close the school. I believe in the role that strong communities play, in the overall development of our young people. They feel valued in a small community. In a mega school everybody is a nobody. If they all grow up feeling under valued, they won’t cope very well with the bigger future challenges that will be thrown at us. This community is fantastic and it needs the support of us all! So please don’t be distracted by the smoke screens! I believe that the Redcliffs School site has been made safe and can be made even safer with a bund. Above this, whatever the decision about the school site, Redcliffs School needs to continue to exist somewhere in the Redcliffs area. A message from Redcliffs School principal: Kia ora everyone! My name is Rose McInerney and I am the new principal of Redcliffs School for 20<strong>16</strong>. It is a privilege and an honour to take over this role and I am very excited about leading a fantastic year of teaching and learning at Redcliffs School. I have been a teacher and then deputy principal here for about 14 years and it is very special to become the principal at this important time. Our priority is giving the children an amazing 20<strong>16</strong> no matter what. We have great learning programmes in place, a range of academic, music, cultural and sports programmes and a wonderful school production to look forward to later in the year. We are very thankful to our whole extended bays community for the support that you are giving in our campaign to return to Redcliffs. The whole community and all the local schools have been behind Redcliffs School supporting us every step of the way and your support has been felt and embraced. Thank you! At the moment the Redcliffs School board of trustees are working very hard on the final submission to send to the Minister of Education Hekia Parata. How you can help If you would like to help our school at the moment we are sending ‘Postcards to Parliament’ over the next few weeks to remind our key politicians of these three strong messages. The scientific reports say that Redcliffs School is as safe as any school in New Zealand – so why does this Government want to close it? Zero submissions in favour of closure and 2700 in favour of Redcliffs School staying open. Redcliffs School is the heart of our community and we do not accept the Government’s reasons for closure. We have thousands of these postcards ready to post, if you would like a bundle please phone our school office or collect some from Redcliffs Pharmacy or Morgan and Page. We would like these postcards to be given to your friends all over NZ so that the Government realise that this is a nationwide issue and that every school in NZ has the chance of future disruption. It is freepost to Parliament and they are already addressed and ready to go. We also have a ‘Givealittle’ fund to assist purely with the costs associated in the campaign to return our school to Redcliffs. You can either send in a cheque to the Redcliffs School office c/- Van Asch college Truro St, Sumner. Or you can go online to make a donation to givealittle.co.nz/cause/ supportRedcliffsschool or phone our school office to talk to our office ladies on 384 3853 and they can help you further. Thank you again. It’s all for our kids! Visit our new website: www.min.nz With thriving communities and picturesque views, the bays are truly spectacular COASTAL REAL ESTATE SPECIALISTS We’ll help you live the dream. Min Sarginson Real Estate Ltd. specialises in homes, sections and rental properties in the spectacular Lyttelton <strong>Harbour</strong> bays, and coastal suburbs of Christchurch, New Zealand. We’ll make it so easy for you. All our sales consultants live in the area – we can give you valuable insights into life in our thriving coastal communities. This is an exciting time; of promise, optimism, and opportunities never anticipated pre-quakes. Beachfront, or hillside with grandstand views, find the property of your dreams: Lyttelton | Diamond <strong>Harbour</strong> | Governors <strong>Bay</strong> | Cass <strong>Bay</strong> Charteris <strong>Bay</strong> | Church <strong>Bay</strong> | Purau <strong>Bay</strong> | Port Levy | Northshore Southshore | New Brighton | Heathcote | Sumner | Redcliffs Scarborough | Mount Pleasant | Clifton Call Min Sarginson Real Estate Ltd. for free, no-obligation advice. Lyttelton: 03 329 4<strong>16</strong>1, lyttelton@min.nz or Church <strong>Bay</strong>: 03 328 7273, churchbay@min.nz