Several thousand people attended the Christchurch red-zoned suburb of Brooklands' swan song gala. About five hundred homes have had to be abandoned because of earthquake damage, meaning Brooklands as it has been known will soon no longer exist.
The idea of a ‘souvenir’, as a physical keepsake of a place or event, is not a new concept. It’s been around for as long as people have been bringing home exotic treasures from far-off lands, or trying to preserve … Continue reading →
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From Staffordshire pottery to American made glass-ware, we’ve come across artefacts from all over the world on archaeological sites here in Christchurch. This prevalence of internationally made artefacts, and what it means for the city’s history, is something that’s come … Continue reading ...
It's no longer politics as usual in Christchurch following a series of devastating earthquakes. Not everyone in the city and its surrounding areas is happy with last week's offer to buy out those households on land which has suffered the worst damage. Our political editor Brent Edwards investigates.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Jonathan Connolly, co-owner of Angus Meats, has won a bevy of awards for their sausages, but they no longer have a retail outlet after their shop was ruined by the September earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Jonathan Connolly, co-owner of Angus Meats, has won a bevy of awards for their sausages, but they no longer have a retail outlet after their shop was ruined by the September earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Jonathan Connolly, co-owner of Angus Meats, has won a bevy of awards for their sausages, but they no longer have a retail outlet after their shop was ruined by the September earthquake".
Boarded-up broken windows on the old Christchurch City Council building in Tuam Street. The photographer comments, "What can happen to a building when the land is no longer solid as a rock".
Broken windows on Leicester House. Broken filing cabinets and other fittings lie on the ground in front of the building. The photographer comments, "As you can see the game did not last very long".
Topic 1: The Minister for Earthquake Recovery, Gerry Brownlee, was quick to apologise to the Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker for calling him a clown. Topic 2: The Electoral Commission says John Key's hour-long pre-election radio show gave him the chance to raise his personal profile unchallenged.
Can't believe how much of this rock fell off! Its looks totally different - no longer a castle. Sad but very glad that the huge rock did not hit anything on the way down!
This thesis focuses attention on the ongoing effects of the earthquakes on children in Christchurch. It identifies the learning and behavioural difficulties evident in an increasing number of students and cautions the use of the word 'resilient' to describe children who may be just managing. This assumption has a significant impact on the wellbeing of many Christchurch children who, disaster literature warns, are likely to be under-served. This thesis suggests that, because of the scale of need, schools are the best place to introduce practices that will foster wellbeing. Mindfulness practices are identified as a potential tool for ameliorating the vulnerabilities experienced by children, while at the same time working to increase their capabilities. This thesis argues that, through mindful practices, children can learn to be more reflective of their emotions and respond in more considered ways to different situations. They can become more relational, having a greater understanding of others through a deeper understanding of themselves, and they can build resilience by developing the protective factors that promote more adaptive functioning. This thesis identifies the strong links between mindfulness and the holistic wellbeing concept of Te Whare Tapa Whã and a Mãori worldview. Strong links are also identified with the vision, values and key competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum and 21st Century learners. Both short and long term recommendations are made for the introduction of mindfulness practices in schools to enhance the wellbeing of children.
Over 900 buildings in the Christchurch central business district and 10,000 residential homes were demolished following the 22nd of February 2011 Canterbury earthquake, significantly disrupting the rebuild progress. This study looks to quantify the time required for demolitions during this event which will be useful for future earthquake recovery planning. This was done using the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) demolition database, which allowed an in-depth look into the duration of each phase of the demolition process. The effect of building location, building height, and the stakeholder which initiated the demolition process (i.e. building owner or CERA) was investigated. The demolition process comprises of five phases; (i) decision making, (ii) procurement and planning, (iii) demolition, (iv) site clean-up, and (v) completion certification. It was found that the time required to decide to demolish the building made up majority of the total demolition duration. Demolition projects initiated by CERA had longer procurement and planning durations, but was quicker in other phases. Demolished buildings in the suburbs had a longer decision making duration, but had little effect on other phases of the demolition process. The decision making and procurement and planning phases of the demolition process were shorter for taller buildings, though the other phases took longer. Fragility functions for the duration of each phase in the demolition process are provided for the various categories of buildings for use in future studies.
The woman who fought the odds to regain her mobility after being trapped and crushed in her collapsed work place, the PGC building, when Christchurch was devastated by the earthquake of February 22. She is now helping other quake victims, especially the children of injured parents some of who have had long periods of separation.
Its 12 years of accumulated stuff and I was thinking I was just going to get rid of everything. I had the feeling I didn't want to hang onto anything. We tried to get rid of a lot of stuff in a garage sale. Some of it went, some of it didn't. It's a long process".
This is St Peters Riccarton. It was damaged in one of the two big Earthquakes to hit Christchurch in September 2010 and February 2011. Its taken a LONG time for work to really get going, but now that it is, they are also upgrading and extending the church with a modern annexe.
It's been a long road to restore Christchurch's Isaac Theatre Royal, but tonight, it will finally open its doors again. The theatre sustained considerable damage in the earthquakes of 22nd February and 13th June 2011 and continuing shakes have made the restoration particularly difficult for architects. The project architect from Warren and Mahoney, is Vanessa Carswell.
It is hard to imagine the destruction which surrounds this area on such a beautiful clear calm sunny spring morning, It seems as if Christchuch has changed forever. I wonder how long it will take us to recover.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch earthquake. Kate Shephard rest home prepare to move some residents out as home is no longer livable. L-R: Renee Hayman, 43, paraplegic, and Denyse Parkes, 46, who has had 5 strokes, have moved in together as their accommodation has been condemned and deemed unlivable".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch earthquake. Kate Shephard rest home prepare to move some residents out as home is no longer livable. L-R: Renee Hayman, 43, paraplegic, and Denyse Parkes, 46, who has had 5 strokes, have moved in together as their accommodation has been condemned and deemed unlivable".
When the new Canterbury Earthquake Memorial was revealed last month, something unusual happened for a work of public art. It was universally appreciated! Christchurch filmmaker Rick Harvie has documented the two year long project from seeking submissions though to the official ceremony. Rick tells Lynn Freeman he's about to put his now finished documentary, including footage of the ceremony and feedback from a range of people, online.
Topics - Facebook coordinates students to provide assistance after the Christchurch earthquake, the Web is dead. Long Live the Internet Bits and Bobs, parents use 'digital' grounding as a 21st century disciplinary tool, Gmail Priority Inbox Sorts Your Email For You, introducing Wikileakileaks: Your Source for Wikileaks-Related Leaks and Melbourne computer hacker turned whistleblower extraordinaire Julian Assange is under pressure from within WikiLeaks to step down.
A photograph of the letterbox and a section of the fence around Donna Allfrey's property at 406 Oxford Terrace. The house number is missing from the letterbox and a picket is missing from the fence. The photographer comments, "The mail is no longer being delivered".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch earthquake. Kate Shephard rest home prepare to move some residents out as home is no longer livable. L-R: Renee Hayman, 43, paraplegic, and Denyse Parkes, 46, who has had 5 strokes, have moved in together as their accommodation has been condemned and deemed unlivable".
Much of the CBD will be cordoned off and without power (as you should be able to spot) for quite some time as a result of the damage caused by February's deadly earthquake.
Much of the CBD will be cordoned off and without power (as you should be able to spot) for quite some time as a result of the damage caused by February's deadly earthquake.
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.
Many Christchurch trades people are refusing to carry out quake repairs unless the homeowner agrees to pay the bill, saying it takes too long to get the money out of the Earthquake Commission. Some contractors say they still haven't been paid for jobs done after the quake in September and the amount of debt some businesses are carrying are putting them in jeopardy.
Tairawhiti District health board officials are going into schools in the Gisborne region in an effort to reduce cases of rheumatic fever; A designers' group says the Canterbury earthquake has created an opportunity for the local iwi to put its architectural stamp on the new Christchurch; Kaitaia people will be among the first in the country to see a long-awaited film about the much-loved comedian - Billy T James.