A local developer is looking to reshape Ashburton's triangle, the historic retail centre of the town. Robert Grice owns a number of buildings on Victoria Street that require earthquake strengthening and he wants to redevelop the existing shops into a new mixed use hospitality precinct named The Ash. Jonathan also discusses an attempt to add quarter of a million dollars to ECan's annual plan budget which has been labelled a "slap in the face" by Environment Canterbury councillor Ian Mackenzie. And a hold-up of plumbing parts and red tape at the border means the Staveley Ice Rink won't be open to skaters and curlers until at least mid-June. Local Democracy Reporter - Mid Canterbury c from the Ashburton Guardian
Protecting live music venues is taking on a new urgency in Christchurch, with the popular 12 Bar announcing it will close at the end of the month. With people flocking back to live in the central city after the earthquakes, there have been more complaints about noise from entertainment venues. But the local music scene says positive changes are in the works, so residents and live venues can live in harmony. Niva Chittock reports.
Canterbury got a big shock this morning with a long and strong earthquake that sent people running for the nearest door frame. While the region seems to have escaped any major damage, it's left locals thankful it wasn't worse. The quake measured 6.0 on the richter scale and was centred 45 kilometes north of Geraldine. Since then, there have been more than 40 aftershocks. Checkpoint producer Anastasia Hedge has been near the epicentre.
