Earthquake Impacts on the Heathcote-Avon Estuary
Audio, Radio New Zealand
The 2011 Christchurch earthquakes and the sewage outfall diversion have had profound impacts on the Heathcote-Avon Estuary
The 2011 Christchurch earthquakes and the sewage outfall diversion have had profound impacts on the Heathcote-Avon Estuary
Days after the city of Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, This Way Up's presenter Simon Morton traverses the city using the Avon River as his route. Travelling on a bicycle from the source of the Avon in the West to Heathcote Estuary in the East, where the Avon meets the Pacific, everyone has a story to tell.
Days after the city of Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, This Way Up's presenter Simon Morton traverses the city using the Avon River as his route. Travelling on a bicycle from the source of the Avon in the West to Heathcote Estuary in the East, where the Avon meets the Pacific, everyone has a story to tell.
Conversations between one-time residents of an historic riverside community - in the 1970s the late Elsie Locke and Rod Donald helped to create one of Christchurch's strongest riverside communities. The Avon Loop now subject to post earthquake re-classifation and demolition.
For many years the Heathcote-Avon estuary was the dumping ground for Christchurch's sewage. Then, in 2010, the wastewater was diverted well out to sea, via a long pipe. David Schiel from the University of Canterbury and John Zeldis from NIWA were investigating the effects of this diversion on the health of estuary when the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes happened, re-engineering both the estuary and their experiments.
The Ōtakaro-Avon and Ōpāwaho-Heathcote in Christchurch are some of the most polluted in the region. While the Avon has received a lot of attention since the Canterbury Earthquakes with $100 million going into a new promenade and cleaning up its water quality, it's a different story for the Heathcote River where raw sewage and industrial chemicals are still regularly found. Niva Chittock reports.
A couple of Christchurch men are collecting letterboxes from the city's red-zoned suburbs, to create sculptures to tell the stories of the homes which have been demolished since the February 2011 earthquake. One of the men is Evan Smith - who co-chairs a group called the Avon-Otakaro Network. It's working toward creating a riverside park along the Avon, where the houses once stood.
A year after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch, Simon Morton revisits the Avon River to see how life's progressing along it and in it.
Days after Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, Simon Morton traverses the city, using the Avon River as his route, and finds everyone has a story to tell.
Christchurch residents forced away from their redzone homes returned today for the unveiling of the the Avon loop pathway - the first redevelopment, nine years on from the deadly earthquake. Reporter Conan Young went along to hear from them.
A 150 metre memorial wall will be unveiled on the banks of the Avon today six years after the devastating earthquake hit Christchurch. Bruce McEachen says it is an inspiring place and the wall will perform every function the families need it to.
A 150 metre memorial wall will be unveiled on the banks of the Avon today six years after the devastating earthquake hit Christchurch. Bruce McEachen says it is an inspiring place and the wall will perform every function the families need it to.
Urban forager and food writer, Liv Sisson finds all sorts of tasty treats in the Otautahi city centre.With some of the housing and buildings destroyed in the earthquakes, a rewilding has taken place providing a range of edible plants. Liv Sisson gathers produce thriving on berms and near the Avon River.
A proposal to put houses back into Christchurch red zones is being shot down by some worried locals who say it's unfair and potentially unsafe. On Friday the crown-led agency, Regenerate Christchurch, released ten options for one area by the Avon river that 9 thousand people used to call home. Almost every house in the 602 hectare zone was demolished after the earthquakes.
For six weeks after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake millions of litres of raw sewage - along with lots of liquefaction - poured into the Avon and Heathcote Rivers. A team of biologists quickly got to work to measure the impact of this catastrophe on life in the Heathcote River and as they tell Alison Ballance, they were surprised by what they recorded over the next few months.
Thousands of people in Christchurch and around the country paused at 12.51 on Monday afternoon to mark a decade since the February 22 magnitude 6.3 earthquake which claimed 185 lives. It was 10 years ago today when an ordinary Christchurch day turned to hell for so many. But in contrast to the harrowing scenes and sounds of that day, today a large peaceful crowd gathered at the Civic Memorial Service on the banks of the Avon River under large oak trees. Reporter Sally Murphy and cameraman Nate McKinnon were there.
Kim Hill talks to Sam Crofskey, the owner of C1 Espresso in the Christchurch CBD, which reopened in 2012 after the Canterbury earthquakes and will celebrate its twentieth anniversary this year. He spoke on the WORD Christchurch panel, How Are We Doing, Christchurch?, and this week launched Let's Take a Walk, a pop-up book for children about the quakes that he created with his wife Fleur and illustrator Hannah Beehre. He is joined by Joseph Hullen (Ngai Tuahuriri, Ngai Tahu), a hunter gatherer, fisherman, explorer, kaitiaki and storyteller who has spent a lifetime gathering traditional kai and listening to stories about his hapu. He is a whakapapa researcher for Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, and is leading three sold-out walking tours during WORD Christchurch along the banks of the Otakaro (Avon River), uncovering the city's history.
Questions to Ministers 1. JONATHAN YOUNG to the Minister of Finance: What advice has he received about factors that lie behind the current turmoil we are witnessing on world financial markets, and what are the implications for New Zealand? 2. KEVIN HAGUE to the Minister of Labour: Does she still agree, as she did on 13 July 2011, with the comment made by Rt Hon John Key on 22 November 2010 that "I have no reason to believe that New Zealand safety standards are any less than Australia's and in fact our safety record for the most part has been very good"? 3. Hon ANNETTE KING to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his answers to Oral Question No 1 yesterday when he said that the Leader of the Opposition is "just plain wrong" in relation to skills training? 4. KATRINA SHANKS to the Minister for the Environment: How have Government reforms to the Resource Management Act helped increase competition in the grocery business? 5. Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Attorney-General: Will he meet with earthquake victims' families to hear directly why they need independent legal representation; if not, why not? 6. Hon JOHN BOSCAWEN to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that "I think the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research is referring to some longer-term issues around demographic change and healthcare costs, and we share the chief executive's concern"? 7. DARIEN FENTON to the Minister of Labour: What is the timeline of the ministerial inquiry into the treatment of foreign fishing crews in New Zealand waters? 8. CHRIS AUCHINVOLE to the Minister for Communications and Information Technology: What progress is being made on the Government's goal of delivering fast broadband to rural areas? 9. Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: Does he agree that an appropriate part of the "red zone" area along the Avon River through Christchurch should be transformed into a "green space" for memorial and recreational public purposes? 10. STUART NASH to the Minister of Finance: Does he believe the tax system is fair for all New Zealanders? 11. KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What steps has the Government taken to manage gateways between benefits? 12. KELVIN DAVIS to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by all of her answers to Oral Question No 8 yesterday?