Lee Vandervis asks whether Christchurch should actually be rebuilt.
### ODT Online Fri, 6 Jan 2012
Opinion
Post-quakes rebuild should be in Dunedin
By Lee Vandervis
“When will it end?” contains the assumption that the earthquakes in Christchurch will end. We all hope the earthquakes have ended, of course, but recent geotechnical and historical evidence suggests otherwise. Earthquakes in other urban areas around the world have usually been one-off disasters. Christchurch is an unusually ongoing seismic disaster that has had unprecedented psychological effects on people living there. The seismicity map shows continuous events for more than a year, from Darfield through Christchurch to Lyttelton.
Dunedin sensitivity about being predatory on Christchurch seems to me like an excuse to sit on our hands and do nothing. Predation is the basis of business competition and is necessary for vitality in business and for viability in world markets. If we can do it better here than in Christchurch we should, and government – local and national – should be right behind us.
• Lee Vandervis is a Dunedin city councillor.
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
Plenty of quakes bigger and closer to Dunners than Chch. Do we just ignore them? It seems so.
Like we’re forgetting the Alpine Fault is due to go.
Attempt to quantify Dunedin’s seismic hazard, EQC research paper
http://www.eqc.govt.nz/home/research/researchpapers/p_162.aspx
The Alpine Fault will be the really interesting one when it goes as I’ve pointed out in the past – and nothing has changed my view which is supported by Geological experts that an 8 metre horizontal shift and a 4 metre vertical shift accompanied by an 8+ shake is now overdue.
What still amazes me and it seems staggering that Chch hasn’t stopped long enough to contemplate is why anyone needs a CBD in the traditional sense. Just why does anyone need large insurance companies, law offices, banks and similar businesses grouped together in this age of instant electronic communication? Why not think of putting all the insurance companies in one suburb, the bank head offices in another, law firms in another?
We all know that car yards do it with good commercial reasons. Melbourne does it with their restaurant scene for the same reasons.
Chch needs to abandon all naturally swampy sandy suburbs like Dallington, New Brighton, Parklands and level them. Allow them to become the Hagley Park of the East and use those current relatively safe parklands for housing development gradually shifting the nominal CBD (in a reduced scale) to areas like Riccarton.
So, the answer seems to me to stop thinking in the traditional sense for Chch. Really think about the ports of Lyttelton and Port Chalmers and figure out which really is in the best position to service exports and imports. Maybe think hard about where good safe, strong housing can be situated near and in Dunedin. Figure out whether the Canterbury University needs to be as big as it was and whether the University of Otago can fulfill the South Island needs with appropriate expansion.
But all this assumes that the Chch City Council has the ability to think, that the DCC has some visionaries, and that vested interests don’t get in the way. On second thoughts, forget it……
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{Link supplied. -Eds}
Seismic Risk in the Otago Region (summary and report) — Opus International Consultants (2005) for Otago Regional Council
http://www.orc.govt.nz/Publications-and-Reports/Natural-Hazards/Seismic-Risk-in-the-Otago-Region/
Russell, I couldn’t agree more re banks and insurance companies. Banks in particular plonk themselves on the best corners of the centre of the city making a totally dead lumpen presence for pedestrians esp when waiting for the lights. We don’t nip into the bank to take out $100 for the fortnight’s grocieries and shoe repairs. When we do have to go to the bank it’s usually for something rather time-consuming like sorting out a mortgage. Holes in the wall can be located “anywhere”, preferably close to both cheap/free parking and bus stops. They might as well join the big-box developments, and the council arrange the bus routes accordingly.
Centre-city — whether one or several, and the size of population is the main factor deciding which will work — is where the fun and buzz part of shopping, eats & drinks, exhibitions and retail belong. Without them young people declare it’s a boring dump and the sooner they can get out to where there’s some action, somewhere to go and meet up with others. At my age that’s irrelevant, couldn’t care less. But I vividly remember the joys of “doing the shops” with mates, cashed up we’d have had enough for one sale-price shoe most of the time but that wasn’t the point, it was the feeling of being where “it” whatever it was, was happening, lashing out on coffee and a cheese roll. For that reason city centres shouldn’t be spread too thinly but there’s not need for the traditional One Great High Street-based centre.
Clustering car yards makes sense, you want to compare and contrast. Clustering eateries is a damn nuisance. Feeding time there’s no parking, and if you don’t live near the cluster you’re probably not within walking distance. I think this is something that should be at least 80% up to the cafe proprietor not the council who should only be responsible for setting the noise & nuisance rules to make it OK for that particular neighbourhood. If the cafe doesn’t thrive that’s its owner’s bad luck – the council needs more butt-outery in its kaupapa.
Come the big Alpine Fault quake is there any part of the Sth Island that could reasonably be predicted to have been safe to build on, anywhere unaffected? If not should we quit now, pack our emergency bags and wait for doom?
Old News: Dunedin residents ‘should not be complacent’ (ODT 9.3.11)
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/150965/dunedin-residents-should-not-be-complacent
Item features Dunedin fault map.
Related post at What if? – 9.3.11 Dunedin earthquake proneness
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See also: ‘Quaking in our boots: How prepared is Dunedin?’ (ODT 18.9.10)
http://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/126950/quaking-our-boots-how-prepared-dunedin
See detailed map here (Faults of the Lower South Island):
http://www.odt.co.nz/files/story/2010/09/for_peter_love_david_4c9325c369.jpg
Personally, I wouldn’t be interested in going to a city without a heart that collects together an eclectic assortment of shops, businesses, work places, entertainment venues. Otherwise we are stuck with suburban shopping malls, cinema complexes and car parks, which are death in another sense. Christchurch already has these aplenty and, for me, they are just not worth going to.
Tweets:
Sat 07 Jan 13:21
@whatifdunedin Why did rival Fairfax publish the Vandervis opinion piece in full the day after ‘independent’ ODT published it #oops #eqnz #lawyers
Sat 07 Jan 13:25
@whatifdunedin ODT: Post-quakes rebuild should be in Dunedin bit.ly/AlNmhf Fairfax: City’s broken heart needs a bypass bit.ly/zotT57
Tweets:
Sat 07 Jan 13:24
@kamala_hayman @10PARK hardly an oops. Surely of interest to ChCh?
Sat 07 Jan 13:25
@10PARK @kamala_hayman they’re not syndicated – breech of copyright
*Kamala Hayman’s twitter profile: Digital editor of press.co.nz and frazzled mother-of-two living in a cracked and only slightly twisted home on Christchurch’s quake-savaged Port Hills.
Email sent to the digital editor.
—– Original Message —–
From: Elizabeth Kerr
To: kamala.hayman@press.co.nz
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2012 1:44 PM
Subject: Opinion Piece
Dear Digital Editor (The Press)
I note the following:
This opinion piece http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/6223639/Citys-broken-heart-needs-a-bypass (Last updated 05:00 07/01/2012)
was published in full by the independent Otago Daily Times yesterday, Friday 6 Jan 2012, in its print, digital and online editions – under the title Post-quakes rebuild should be in Dunedin. http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/193426/post-quakes-rebuild-should-be-dunedin
Regards
–
Elizabeth Kerr
[contact details deleted]
*****
—– Original Message —–
From: Kamala Hayman (CPL)
To: Elizabeth Kerr
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2012 1:53 PM
Subject: Re: Opinion Piece
Yes indeed it was
K
Peter, for you and me malls etc aren’t worth going to, I couldn’t agree with you more. For others, esp much younger people, they’re exciting places where others in their age group go, eat junk food and generally hang out. If agglomerations of same-same franchise, chain, generic businesses form in centres of settlement that’s OK isn’t it? Less travelling for the people in nearby ‘burbs which has to be good. The real City Centre is where I’d like to see unique things, the public art gallery, museum, library on its outskirts, and in its centre the non-chain clothing shops, hand-made chocolates, theatre(s), real i.e. non-franchise book shops including quality second hand, non-chain restaurants, and cafes & bars: the really special things that make going into town worthwhile. And some of the usual McDs etc to cater to visitors who want the familiar even if it’s unutterably naff.
Yes, Hype, each to his/her own. As long as people have a choice of an alive and varied CBD, plus the other suburban mall and chain store agglomerations. That’s OK. They are here to stay I guess. Many people like these drive to venues. It would also be good to foster suburban shopping areas, like our NEV, that seems to have something different on offer with its collection of shops. (It would be good to see Caversham come alive again.)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/6223772/Parker-dismisses-abandoning-city
(see comments to The Press that follow this item)
### ODT Online Tue, 10 Jan 2012
Opinion
No place for parochialism over Christchurch rebuild
By Albert Salmon
Christchurch reader Albert Salmon, on holiday in Dunedin, a city where he lived during some of his university days, responds to Cr Lee Vandervis’ recent suggestion that the earthquake-torn city should not be rebuilt in Canterbury but in Dunedin.
Read more
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/editorials/6233430/Dunedin-can-t-pretend-to-do-a-better-job
### ODT Online Wed, 11 Jan 2012
Vandervis comments rankle in Christchurch
By Chris Morris
A call by a Dunedin city councillor for some Christchurch rebuilding to be shifted to Dunedin has drawn the ire of Christchurch residents and scorn from Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee. Cr Lee Vandervis raised the prospect in an opinion piece first published in the Otago Daily Times last week, and reprinted in Christchurch newspaper The Press on Saturday.
Read more
Lee is trying to state the obvious, and yet still manages to be 5 minutes late to the party. The industries responsible for the majority of the wealth in Canterbury are not located within the problem zone. So it’s business as usual for them. The majority of those who were affected have already relocated outside of the zones and seem to be quite happy there. The only major players really left to consider are the banking offices.
A business will locate as close as possible to it’s key resource. If their key resource is people (such as banking), then they will need to be in a highly populated area where their customers are. If their resource is land or livestock, then that’s where they will be located. Moving further away from the resource will only harm a business, and the region it has relocated into.
Towns such as Rolleston and Ashburton will be the logical winners of any relocation, if it even occurs. Good land for expansion (which Dunedin’s geography doesn’t encourage) and decidedly closer to those key resources. Timaru has a pretty good port and again is half the distance to Christchurch than Dunedin. I understand what Lee is saying, but I don’t quite follow his conclusion that moving to Dunedin is in the best interests of the people and economy of Canterbury.
Christchurch GNS Science quake press conference – full video
Friday, 06 January 2012, 6:30pm
Source: TV3
Watch the full video of today’s press conference: Earthquake experts address a meeting of elected Christchurch representatives.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/national/60885.html
Two opinion pieces:
Ian Smith (Dunedin) http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/194058/why-build-risky-ground-it-costs-us-all
Islay McLeod (Christchurch) http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/194063/well-be-fine-christchurch-thanks
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/4755532/Documentary-warned-of-Christchurch-earthquake-danger
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NkTy6ogLDX8
The 1996 doco shows how terrifyingly quickly important information can be “lost”. Getting rid of permanent staff e.g. city engineer and leaving it up to desk jockeys to appoint consultants and contractors is NO substitute for institutional memory. Gawd’elpus, they wouldn’t even know that there ARE potential “other factors” outside their very brief briefs to consider. Talk about clearing the field for developers and other profit-takers to thrive, complete with incentivising councillors & CEOs to give the “right” consents, leaving the mess for other people to clean up!
Check the dates on the Civil Defence document linked below.
http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/memwebsite.nsf/Files/Intro-Ch1-2/$file/Intro-Ch1-2.pdf
December 1998, long enough for everyone on council to be clear. One of the city’s lead documents, gee – who would know it. Draft spatial plan doesn’t mention it.
Eastern suburbs aren’t fine, thanks… [Islay McLeod please read]
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/6250167/Workers-in-east-rely-on-welfare
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http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/194005/labour-questions-commitment-christchurch-rebuild-plan
The joke is Cr Brown was one of DCC’s chief architects of the stadium project. It would be false to say he has a sensible grasp of economics or business ethics.
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### ODT Online Fri, 13 Jan 2012
Crs clash on quake opinion
By Chris Morris
There are fears Dunedin businesses could miss out on a slice of the estimated $30 billion Christchurch rebuilding effort, amid an outcry over a controversial call to rebuild some of the shattered city’s infrastructure in Dunedin. The claim came yesterday from Cr Syd Brown, chairman of the Dunedin City Council’s finance, strategy and development committee, after an opinion piece by Cr Lee Vandervis, published last week.
Read more
Syd Brown strikes again.
Unfortunately, the good citizens of the Mosgiel-Taieri ward keep voting for Mr Brown – an assured ‘rural’ seat? The rest of us (metropolitan area – ‘super ward’) can’t vote him out. What’s wrong with this picture.
What depressing parish-pumpsterisms make up this fellow’s views!
I think that someone needs to remind Lee that this is not an election year. Good stirring words that are very thin on substance and have little likelihood of ever being called on. As safe as kissing babies for the camera.
The infrastructure failed in some areas. Absolutely correct. Not throughout the entire city, mind (but that’s mere detail). Key sections of the reticulated network failed. Why ? Because they were old. Concrete and earthenware pipes. Just like we have in Dunedin. Actually, in Dunedin it’s much worse because we still have major water and sewer mains constructed out of brick. The former head of the DCC Engineers’ department knew all about them. Unfortunately he’s no longer employed by the DCC. Anyway, they aren’t going to put those same pipes back into the ground again. Give the construction industry some credit for using the latest technology.
The majority of the buildings that failed were located within the CBD. And clearly that’s a weak area. But the rest of the city coped pretty well. Considering the magnitude and action of the quakes. If you look at the buildings which did fail, 90+% of those were dated from the early 1900s and constructed from unreinforced masonry (brick and stone). At the time they were built there were no requirements for earthquake design. Earthquake standards weren’t introduced until the 1980s and weren’t mandatory nationwide until the early 1990s. Lee’s argument is based on the fact that Christchurch will be replacing like with like. Even if they wanted to, it would be illegal. The new infrastructure and buildings that will be in place will bear no resemblance to those which were there prior to the earthquakes and will behave in a completely different manner. Most of those collapsed buildings on Manchester Street etc were an absolute eyesore with zero maintenance and even less interest in the city for maintaining them. Heritage or not, they were a blot on the landscape. They would have eventually been pulled down and replaced by structures more appropriate to the needs of the city. What the earthquake did was to fast track and condense that rebuilding process.
Looking ahead to what will be rebuilt and trying to make assumptions based on the systems which were in place prior to the earthquakes is ill informed and ignorant to the core. The self proclaimed “son of a builder” and a former TV home handyman presenter should know better.
Eastern suburbs aren’t likely to improve anytime soon. That’s a lot of houses to provide elsewhere and people to relocate – and in some cases relocate out of the city given all they’ve been through, with no end in sight for tremor action. If the EQC and insurance payouts are sufficient (joke), they’re already not ‘timely’… If the good Canterbury people want to come to Dunedin, great – bringing their skills, their children, their hope – may they feel at home in this community and may they prosper. Quite a few here already!
Lee Vandervis
Lee Vandervis’ comments have raised much discussion, and most of it has proved him right in raising the matter. Never have I seen such hatred published just because he calls a spade a spade. We want city councillors like him who are practical and know the business world. Unfortunately many of our councillors seem not to have any business sense at all.
It’s no wonder Dunedin is in such a financial mess. We will never balance the books with this lot of “I Wants” running the city.
A spade is a spade so long as it actually is a spade. But you can’t just pick up a stick and call it a spade just because you think it should be. Lee believes that Christchurch isn’t worth pursuing as a viable venture, and he’s said so. I’d give him some support if he actually included some substance behind his words and not just “Rah Rah” electioneering spin. That’s always been his weakness, he says a lot and then invariably gets caught out when it comes time to front up with any supporting evidence. The Christchurch that will be rebuilt will not be the same Christchurch that fell down. Some areas of the CBD, and some suburbs, won’t be built on. Every person in the country knows that. Except for one, obviously. Where Lee has tripped over himself, and rightly pissed off the people of Christchurch, is that he’s thrown that condemned blanket over the entire city. His “Man of the People” attempt may have ended up doing more harm than good in the eyes of Christchurch residents considering their options.
I don’t buy into the notion that he has the right to express his opinion as a private person. Firstly, when you take on a role in public office (by choice) then you give up that private person opinion right. Every time you open your mouth you’re speaking for the city. It comes with the job. Secondly, he would not have even made the paper had he not been Cr Lee Vandervis. So he was using his position as a public figure. Can’t have it both ways when it all starts going wrong.
Phil, do you mean by “when you take on a role in public office (by choice) then you give up that private person opinion right” that as a person in public office one is obliged to only speak the approved groupspeak in public, and remain silent when your opinion varies from that of the group to which you were elected?
The two speaking roles are quite distinct – independent citizen; elected councillor. Usually it’s the media or the general public – or indeed other politicians – who mix the two. And problematically often, it’s the communicator who is unclear about which role they’re occupying. The trick is to specify which hat(s) you’re wearing before you speak.
The explanatory sentence at the end of the article “Lee Vandervis is a Dunedin city councillor” is added by the ODT isn’t it? There is one after every opinion piece on the op-ed page, selected according to what they think is most relevant e.g. if someone writes about education it’ll be “retired principal of St Trinian’s” not “president of Dullsville Tennis Club”.
Yes, added by ODT.
In an ideal world, I would agree with you, Hype O’Thermia. Sadly, we don’t live in that world. Lee’s piece was only published because of his “profile” as a Dunedin City Councillor. Try writing the same article yourself and see which page, if any, it makes. That’s the reality of anyone in public office. Anytime that they do or say anything that might be considered to be remotely newsworthy, be it privately or personally related, it is automatically linked to their role in public office. Ask Bill Clinton about that. That’s the reality of the game and people know that when they choose to take the role on. They lose their “private person” status during the time they hold their public office role. It is impossible to separate out the two personas. You don’t have to agree with the party line, or to keep quiet if you don’t agree, but accept that you will be linked to your public office role every time that you speak out. What you say or do will have a far greater impact than the same words or action from a non-public figure. Even if the ODT hadn’t added the tag line (which I presume they did in order to justify publishing such a weak article) the first question that anyone outside of Dunedin would have asked when read would have been “Who is Lee Vandervis?”. He’s hardly a household name 60 minutes drive in any direction from the Octagon. Would any of the answers have been “Oh, he’s a lighting and sound engineer from Dunedin” ? Of course not. Just as an exercise, type “Vandervis” and “Christchurch” into Google. I stopped after 4 pages but couldn’t find one link (outside of Lee’s own page) that didn’t refer to him as “Dunedin City councillor “. As a result, the whole city gets tarred with the same brush. Fairly or unfairly.
Tweet (14 minutes ago):
@EarthquakeChCh Quake exodus drives Nelson house demand – The Press: Quake exodus drives Nelson house deman… http://bit.ly/Abg5LB #EQNZ #CHCH #NZquake
You can be a councillor and specify your published opinion is an independent view, not that of the Council. There are many instances published where local politicians do exactly this. Opinion is not council policy. I doubt anyone reading Lee Vandervis’ opinion piece would think of it as the council’s position – or a direct attempt to define and implement an action plan. Gulp, man alone? Not likely.
See Edward de Bono… on hats…
http://www.debonogroup.com/edward_debono.php
http://www.debonogroup.com/six_thinking_hats.php
Not anyone in Dunedin, Elizabeth. I agree with you there. Because we know the set up here. We know what the rest of NZ doesn’t know. But if you were to sit in Dunedin read an article attributed to, say, a “Palmerston North City Councillor”, your first thought would be that of a representative of Palmerston North, and not that of a private citizen. That is just natural. Dunedin people are fine, because we know how to take Lee. That’s not the problem. It’s people outside of Dunedin (and most importantly in Christchurch) who are going to read the article once and base their conclusions upon that. If you read the reports generated from outside of Dunedin, it’s the city and its ability to elect suitable officials that’s getting slated, not one rogue individual acting in a personal capacity. It may well have not been the intention, and it’s definitely not fair, but it’s certainly been the result.
I have had an opinion piece published (to my surprise & delight I was paid for it!) and more recently a rather long comment I submitted to odt online comments resulted in an email saying they would not use it as a comment but ifI would like to turn it into a piece for the Opinion page… but I was short of time and energy so it didn’t happen. One doesn’t have to be a councillor or person of high (or medium, or even discernible) status to have an opinion piece in the ODT, one simply needs some ideas, expressed readably.
Lee Vandervis has ideas. He expressed them readably. I gather that you do not like his ideas, Phil, but that’s only part of what is coming across in your posts.
I get the feeling, Phil, that if Lee Vandervis said “It could be a good weekend for a barbie” you would find something to object to.
Yeah, like, about opinion – um, anyone feel that asset sales story today reads like Mayor Dave Cull repeating stadium Cr Syd Brown with their debt smoothed over by ODT reporter David Loughrey? I’m not sure they can make hundreds of millions in debt sound any more normal. They’ve got their non-essential stadium so now they’re going after Dunedin City’s essential assets.
### ODT Online Tue, 17 Jan 2012
City urged against complacency over quakes
By John Gibb
Although the odds of a major earthquake hitting Dunedin soon are relatively low, citizens “should not be complacent”, geologist Prof Richard Norris warned yesterday. University of Otago geologists Dr Virginia Toy and Prof Norris gave an open lecture on “New Zealand Earthquakes and Earthquake Hazard in Dunedin” at the university’s St David lecture theatre last night, during the university’s latest annual Hands-on Science school.
Read more
You’re right, Hype. I do have a problem with Lee. He has a nasty habit of shooting first and thinking second. Sometimes he gets lucky and gets it right. But there’s just as much of a chance of him getting it wrong. Either way, whenever he gets published, he’s representing you and me me to the rest of the country. Whether he intends to or not. You can write what you like and it’s not automatically linked to Dunedin (actually, having read a few of your pieces, I’d have a bit more confidence). You don’t have the same responsibility as Lee to consider the implications of what you’re saying. Lee does, and yet he seems incapable or unwilling to do so. That’s my beef with him. It’s about being professional in one’s role.
That and the small matter that he mostly writes rubbish, which tends to leave the odd good thought hidden in the shadows.
Oh dear! Is this “let’s stick it to Lee week”? As I see it, what he did in expressing his views on Christchurch’s situation was just a private opinion, well thought out and reasoned. He didn’t do anything but open up a debate. The fact that he is a councillor ought not disqualify him from stating what he sees as stark reality. That it has struck so many nerves suggests it is a subject which needs to be aired. “A nasty habit of shooting first and thinking second” is a bit rich really. What is he supposed to do? Say nothing and let the world carry on? Just what Cr Syd Brown would prefer, and truth be known, the rest of our council as well. It is remarks of the calibre of those made by Gerry Brownlee which should be criticised. Sorry Phil, but just because you don’t like the messenger that is not sufficient to shoot the message.
OK Phil, thanks for making your attitude clear. But as you say, even you acknowledge the “odd good thought” and that’s where I think you’re making a mistake. In my opinion no matter who comes up with a good idea, and no matter how infrequently, our best contribution is to ignore the rest and work to direct attention to the gems. Our opponents – we know what they’re on about – will pick on the parts that aren’t good ideas and use those to rubbish the whole of the person’s ideas. (I’m not talking about Lee here, I mean ALL the commentators who try to present alternatives to the way things are done a.k.a. fubar’d for the benefit of the favoured few.)
Whatever good ideas and responsible social attitudes are expressed we need to do helpful follow-up, even contributions from our worst enemies should they come up with ideas that are good for Dunedin, society, NZ, the planet………..
Even people who only have one good idea in their lives – it’s a hell of a waste if on the basis of their history we who agree with that single good idea join with the anti’s. Why rubbish their whole contribution when we could ignore all the other ideas they’ve expressed. We could comment on, expand on, promote, keep attention on, that good idea because dammit we NEED it!
My disclosure – I like Lee, I like his energy, I argue with him over his methods, he knows I’m not putting my critical faculties on hold for him or anyone else. And I DO think elected people can and should have independent ideas and be free to put them forward, a council/government should be made up of people with different views and I want to see an all-round picture of candidates before I vote them in or out next time.
Out of Lee’s independent opinion piece, inadvertently perhaps, came a stark forum in The Press which underlined contributors’ disappointment and disgust with Christchurch leaders’ handling of the post-quake recovery process, the ripples of which had already been seen (and continue) in relation to CERA, insurance matters, zoning, lack of timely support for people living in the worst affected areas of the city, and reaction to the central city plan – amongst other things.
And then I read a circulating email today about Fletchers which, rightly or wrongly, alleges the potential degree of manipulation of the company vehicle for central government and Reserve Bank purposes in relation to the rebuild. If true it’s mighty ugly. The big opportunists at work would easily put Lee’s own assertions about (were they predatory?) business opportunities for Dunedin into a sane light.
Just saying.
Take it or leave it, here is the link that came with the email:
http://uncensored.co.nz/2011/06/03/what-is-going-on-in-christchurch-the-real-story/
Yes, I think it sparked a lot of useful discussion.
Why rubbish their whole contribution when we could ignore all the other ideas they’ve expressed.
Time. Whenever I read something, and start to read things I know aren’t true, I tend to stop reading, and move on to better sources, assuming that if they are wrong on some matters of fact, the chances of them being credible on others is also likely to be lower. It’s rather like The Boy who Cried Wolf. When they finally trip on to a valid point, nobody will be listening.
That email about Fletchers is a classic example of this. The Reserve Bank doesn’t own 45% of Fletcher Building. That would have triggered a takeover. Instead it acts in a custodial capacity for entities like the Super Fund and ACC. Having confirmed that the author has a thin grasp on reality there, I consider the rest of it much less likely to be true.
Shakeytown
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/6277701/Blog-pokes-fun-at-life-in-shaky-town
http://rebuildshakeytown.blogspot.com/
### ch9.co.nz January 18, 2012 – 6:09pm
Should Christchurch infrastructure be moved to Dunedin?
Councillor Vandervis has recently been making headlines, for suggesting vital infrastructure, such as Lyttleton Port and various government departments, should be relocated to Dunedin in the wake of ongoing Cantabrian aftershocks. The 9 Local News Word on the Street team hit the main drag today to ask if you agree with what he says, or not?
Video
I see Winston Peters in a similar light to Lee. In my eyes, note. Every once in a while they both come out with something where I think that they might just be worth backing. And then they proceed to pile a whole pile of rubbish in with it, completely burying the one gem that was in the middle. All it highlights to me is that they are both rather weak when it comes to the substance of an argument. And that makes both people difficult for me to take seriously as a package. I guess that puts me into the group that you have described, James.
It’s all a bit academic now as Lee appears to have gone to ground and the rest of the country has lost interest.
As a side note, it’s written into the employee agreement that no DCC staff member is permitted to voice an opinion on any matter relating to the activities of the DCC or of council owned companies, in either a private or professional capacity, without the prior approval of their department manager. That includes Letters to the Editor etc. The view of the senior management team is that if a connection is made between a contributor and the DCC then there is the risk that the opinion could undermine the organisation. I have a former workmate who wrote an online comment regarding a DCC land purchase a few years ago, shortly after commencing employment within the DCC (in a department unrelated to the purchase). Within an hour of the article coming online, he was summoned to a “Please Explain” meeting with the head of his department and the DCC Group Manager. It took him several hours to remove the toasted crumpets.
DCC staff are employed by, answerable to, the CEO. Councillors are elected by, answerable to, us the voters.
### D Scene 25.1.12
Cr sticking with city rebuild idea (page 2)
Southern hub status up for grabs
By Wilma McCorkindale
Councillor Lee Vandervis is stepping up his campaign for a Christchurch rebuild in Dunedin. [...] Undeterred, Vandervis has written to Government ministers repeating his proposal. [...] “I’m now prodding the giant that’s been sucking Dunedin dry for political reasons, rather than sound economic sense, for the past 50 years.”
{continues} #bookmark
### ODT Online Tue, 24 Apr 2012
Workers could commute to Christchurch
By Chris Morris
Commuter trains could be used to ferry Dunedin tradespeople to and from rebuilding jobs in Christchurch, to avoid a permanent exodus of workers and their families from the deep South. The idea was among those to be considered in detail by construction business consultant Graham Williams, who was yesterday named as the Dunedin City Council facilitator tasked with handling Dunedin’s response to the $30 billion rebuilding of Christchurch.
Read more