The New Premises of the D.I.C. Cashel and Lichfield Streets, Christchurch From the ashes of the conflagration which ravaged the business heart of the city a year ago, there has arisen a wonderfully…
Minister for Social Development Paula Bennett stands on a large carpet that represents the 'dole'; she has swept the detritus of 'job initiatives', 'unemployment' and 'job summit' under the carpet with a broom and says 'The benefit system is there and can sort of get as big as it needs to' Context - the Government has announced its business assistance package to Christchurch is to be watered down and then cease over the next few weeks. John Key and Paula Bennett have said that 'the dole will be there for them'. Clayton Cosgrove Labour's Canterbury Earthquake Recovery spokesperson says Prime Minister John Key and Social Development Minister Paula Bennett are cruelly missing the point in terms of Canterbury people who lose their jobs in the wake of the earthquakes. He says "They want jobs, and they want to know what the Government is going to do about ensuring Christchurch businesses can get up and running again". (Business Scoop 5 April 2011) Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Kaiapoi businesses and retail outlets are struggling post-earthquake leading into Christmas. The Rooster cafe operating out of a prefab building after their building was demolished".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Fred Arnesen from Beckenham Footwear and Engraving has had to move his business due to the earthquake damage to a much newer shop with higher rent".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Fred Arnesen from Beckenham Footwear and Engraving has had to move his business due to the earthquake damage to a much newer shop with higher rent".
A central-Christchurch property owner says attempts by insurance companies to limit the amount of money they end up paying out for earthquake damage, is just part of doing business.
As we go to air, Christchurch property and business owners people are being allowed into the cordoned-off central city for the first time since the earthquake twelve days ago.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Fred Arnesen from Beckenham Footwear and Engraving has had to move his business due to the earthquake damage to a much newer shop with higher rent".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Kaiapoi businesses and retail outlets are struggling post-earthquake leading into Christmas. The Rooster cafe operating out of a prefab building after their building was demolished".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch business U Fit In have moved from their earthquake damaged store into their co-owners' home and are trading from the lounge and spare room".
The head of the the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce, Peter Townsend, says the effects of the Christchurch earthquake will dominate business in Canterbury for at least the next three years.
Businesses, farmers and workers in Canterbury are anxiously waiting to see what more the government will do to help after the 7.1 earthquake that devastated the region on Saturday morning.
A piece of decorated furniture in the Words of Hope project. Messages can be seen such as "Strength" and "Let's build a Central Peoples' District not rebuild a Central Business District".
A photograph of a block of businesses on Armagh Street. One of the windows of The Burrito Company has been boarded up and there is damage to the footpath in front.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The inside of a temporary Sumner Wine Shop which is being housed in a shipping container".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The proprietor at the door of a temporary Sumner Wine Shop operating from a shipping container".
A photograph of bar staff in a bar built from recycled materials. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Revival Bar, 92-96 Victoria Street".
A photograph of the outdoor seating area of a bar built from recycled materials. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Revival Bar, 92-96 Victoria Street".
A photograph of the interior of a bar built from recycled materials. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Revival Bar, 92-96 Victoria Street".
A photograph of customers in the outdoor seating area of a bar built from recycled materials. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Revival Bar, 92-96 Victoria Street".
A photograph of the interior of a bar built from recycled materials. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Revival Bar, 92-96 Victoria Street".
A photograph of the outdoor seating area of a bar built from recycled materials. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Revival Bar, 92-96 Victoria Street".
Organisations play a vital role in assisting communities to recover from disasters. They are the key providers of goods and services needed in both response and recovery efforts. They provide the employment which both anchors people to place and supports the taxation base to allow for necessary recovery spending. Finally, organisations are an integral part of much day to day functioning contributing immensely to people’s sense of ‘normality’ and psychological wellbeing. Yet, despite their overall importance in the recovery process, there are significant gaps in our existing knowledge with regard to how organisations respond and recover following disaster. This research fills one part of this gap by examining collaboration as an adaptive strategy enacted by organisations in the Canterbury region of New Zealand, which was heavily impacted by a series of major earthquakes, occurring in 2010 and 2011. Collaboration has been extensively investigated in a variety of settings and from numerous disciplinary perspectives. However, there are few studies that investigate the role of collaborative approaches to support post-disaster business recovery. This study investigates the type of collaborations that have occurred and how they evolved as organisations reacted to the resource and environmental change caused by the disaster. Using data collected through semi-structured interviews, survey and document analysis, a rich and detailed picture of the recovery journey is created for 26 Canterbury organisations including 14 collaborators, six non-traders, five continued traders and one new business. Collaborations included two or more individual businesses collaborating along with two multi-party, place based projects. Comparative analysis of the organisations’ experiences enabled the assessment of decisions, processes and outcomes of collaboration, as well as insight into the overall process of business recovery. This research adopted a primarily inductive, qualitative approach, drawing from both grounded theory and case study methodologies in order to generate theory from this rich and contextually situated data. Important findings include the importance of creating an enabling context which allows organisations to lead their own recovery, the creation of a framework for effective post-disaster collaboration and the importance of considering both economic and other outcomes. Collaboration is found to be an effective strategy enabling resumption of trade at a time when there seemed few other options available. While solving this need, many collaborators have discovered significant and unexpected benefits not just in terms of long term strategy but also with regard to wellbeing. Economic outcomes were less clear-cut. However, with approximately 70% of the Central Business District demolished and rebuilding only gaining momentum in late 2014, many organisations are still in a transition stage moving towards a new ‘normal’.
It's just over three weeks since a magnitude seven-point-one earthquake struck Canterbury, damaging infrastructure and destroying homes and businesses and the Earthquake Commission has already received over 75-thousand claims.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 10 April 2011 entitled, "Day 48 - Foraging and Fences".
A photograph of a temporary house in Rawhiti Domain.
A photograph of a sign for Rawhiti Village Grove.
Transcript of Patricia Blazey's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
The "Lyttelton Review" newsletter for 17 October 2011, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The "Lyttelton Review" newsletter for 8 August 2011, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.