National Government puts champagne and stadium before shelter housing

A replacement stadium for the earthquake-damaged AMI Stadium in Phillipstown will be built on the old Turners & Growers site, on the edge of the CBD’s new eastern frame. It will be a covered stadium with natural turf and seating for 35,000 people. –The Press

Christchurch residents in the eastern suburbs are left to fend for themselves…

—

The first project to get underway is the river precinct along the Avon

### thepress.co.nz Last updated 18:03 30/07/2012
Bold plan for a new Christchurch
By Lois Cairns
Christchurch’s new city centre will be compact and low rise, with all key facilities and precincts corralled between the Avon River and a new green ‘frame’. The 100-day blueprint released by the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU) outlines a bold plan to significantly shrink the size of the CBD by designating two strips of land – one in the east of the city and one in the south – as open spaces. These spaces, along with the Avon River, which will be widened in stretches and developed into a riverside park, will serve to frame the new CBD, ensuring that all development is concentrated within a tight geographic area. Building heights in the city will be kept at a maximum of 28 metres, although exceptions may be made in some areas around the planned convention centre to accommodate hotel developments. The convention centre will occupy a prime site next to Victoria Square and will be big enough to allow the city to host three events simultaneously. It will stretch the entire block between Gloucester and Armagh streets and incorporate two new hotels.
Read more + Flyover and Interactive Map

—

At The Press…
Excerpt from comment made by Nicholas Lynch #8 06:34 pm Jul 30 2012
“The whole thing is a racket,” Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby recently observed. “Once again the politicos will expand their empire. Once again crony capitalism will enrich a handful of wired business operators. And once again Joe and Jane Taxpayer will pay through the nose. How many times must we see this movie before we finally shut it off?”

At Otago Daily Times…
Wider Earthquake Communities’ Action Network (WeCan) spokesman Mike Coleman said today marked further evidence of a “corporate recovery” while residents in the eastern city suburbs were being “left to flounder”. “They open up the champagne bottles for the CBD but there’s mere drips of water for the plebs in the suburbs.” APNZ (ODT Link)

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ORC on hazard risks and land use controls

### ODT Online Mon, 30 Jul 2012
Building ban in risk-prone areas
By Rebecca Fox
For the future safety of Otago communities, the building of homes and businesses in hazard-prone areas needs to be restricted, and in extreme cases banned, by councils, the Otago Regional Council says. A report to a recent council policy and submissions committee said earthquake, landslip, tsunami, flood and wind storm events all impacted on the ability to use land and could increase the risk in doing so. Communities either adapted or modified their use to deal with the risk, such as the flood protection scheme on the Taieri Plain, the report said.
Read more

****

### ODT Online Mon, 30 Jul 2012
Quake could flood West Taieri
By Rebecca Fox
An earthquake could render the pump station and floodbanks which keep water off the West Taieri plain inoperable for a “prolonged period of time” and at risk of flooding from Lake Waipori. The area at risk includes Dunedin International Airport. There was also a “significant risk the whole Taieri could liquefy into one big soggy puddle”, Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead said at a recent committee meeting. Based on observations following Canterbury’s September 2010 earthquake, the regional council believes lateral spreading and liquefaction would likely render the Waipori Pump Station inoperable, the Natural Hazards on the Taieri Plain report says.

The report, the result of concerns raised by the succession of flood events on the Taieri since 2006, brings together all the hazard risks faced on the plain and the interaction between flooding, earthquakes and landslips for the first time.

The report will be given to the Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board and Dunedin City Council in coming weeks.
Read more

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr