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Audio, Radio New Zealand

A Taranaki business owner is warning leaseholders to read the fine print of their contracts after being asked to pay his rent in full despite a clause in his lease allowing for a rent cut if he couldn't legally access the property. Clause 27.5 was included in the Auckland District Law Society commercial lease in 2012 in response to the Canterbury earthquakes, when many leaseholders were barred from their businesses. RNZ reporter Robin Martin has more.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Gaylene Preston has been making feature films and documentaries with a distinctive NZ flavour for over 30 years. Her latest venture is an epic six part drama series called Hope and Wire, which she produced and directed. Set in Christchurch in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes, Hope and Wire is a fictionalised mix of characters - families that fly apart, others that come together - and what happens to a city that loses it's centre in an instant.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Meet a local town hero from Auckland's Northshore - 86-year-old Māori Warden Peggy Hughes. Peggy has been serving in her community as a volunteer for about 60 years and officially as a Māori Warden for almost 50 years. She's won dozens of awards for her services - from working at the 1981 Springbok tour protests, supporting Christchurch residents after the 2011 earthquakes, serving at many memorable Waitangi Day events to the recent Black Lives Matter protests.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Topics - A Christchurch resident says he just wants to get on with his life after his house was flooded for the ninth time since the 2011 earthquake. Fairfax newspapers today feature the story of an elderly gentleman who has been burgled so many times he's afraid to sleep in his own home. In Southland - A 72-year old woman has had her 30-year church membership revoked because she is living in a de facto relationship.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Police prosecutor jailed for dealing drugs;Sharebrokers getting late rush of MRP investors;Pressure mounts on MP Aaron Gilmore;Police rule out anyone else being at risk;Mother of electrocuted son is pleased that electricians been named and shamed;NZ Post signals to Government it will need to invest in KiwiBank in two years;Judge says young killer could have made something of himself;Elderly in Christchurch say they are low on priority list for earthquake repairs and payouts.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Gerry Brownlee is the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister. Hugo Kristinsson is a South Brighton resident who stood for mayor last year on the issue of flood risk and land damage. David Stringer is the spokesperson for the community lobby group Insurance Watch - which has been seeking answers from the council since 2011 about the flood risk to the city. Nine to Noon speaks with all three about the recent flooding in Christchurch.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Temple for Christchurch is an enormous work, representing the seismic wave of the February 22 earthquake. Made mostly from salvaged wood it's taken a team of volunteers two years to build. But it will meet a fiery end on Saturday night when it is deliberately set alight. Justin Gregory meets the designer and his volunteers with two weeks left until burn day. But when he gets there, none are to be found.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

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.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A business owner wants more stringent background checks for people creating professional online profiles after discovering a potential business advisor is currently on home detention for corruption. Gerard Gallagher was convicted in June after trying to personally profit from information obtained while working for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and Ōtākaro Limited between 2014 and 2017. Online, he promotes himself as a Business Advisor despite still serving a sentence of 12 months' home detention. Niva Chittock reports.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

An icon of Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour is set to re-open tomorrow, after being damaged in the Canterbury Earthquakes. The Governors Bay jetty, locally known for its extraordinary length and unofficial jetty jump competitions, has been closed since 2015. Now, it's back to its former glory, just in time for summer. Niva Chittock went for a sneak peek ahead of the official opening. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6338047392112

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Twelve years after the CTV building collapsed during the Christchurch earthquake, families of the victims killed inside have told an engineering disciplinary hearing they want justice and accountability. 115 people died when the six-storey building came down in February 2011. A complaint against an engineer whose firm designed the building is being heard by an Engineering New Zealand disciplinary committee. Dr Alan Reay lost a High Court bid to stop the hearing. Anna Sargent reports.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

On 22 February 2011, Ōtautahi Christchurch was struck by a devastating earthquake. The city was changed forever: lives were lost, buildings destroyed and much of the city’s infrastructure needed to be repaired or replaced. One of the unexpected outcomes of the process of recovery was the volume of archaeological work that was carried out in the city, including the substantial amount of buildings archaeology that was undertaken (that is, recording standing buildings prior to and during their demolition, using archaeological techniques). Amongst the numerous buildings recorded in this way were 101 houses from across the city (but concentrated in those areas hit hardest by the earthquakes), built between 1850 and 1900. This work yielded a wealth of data about what houses in the city looked like in the nineteenth century. It is this data that forms the core of my thesis, providing an opportunity to examine the question of what life was like in nineteenth century Christchurch through these houses and the people who built them. Christchurch was founded in 1850 by European settlers, most of whom were English. These people came to New Zealand to build a better life for themselves and their families. For many of them, this ‘better life’ included the possibility of owning their own home and, in some instances, building that house (or at least, commissioning its construction). The buildings archaeology data collected following the Canterbury earthquakes enabled a detailed analysis of what houses in the city looked like in the nineteenth century – their form, and both their external and internal appearance – and how this changed as the century progressed. A detailed examination of the lives of those who built 21 of the houses enabled me to understand why each house looked the way it did, and how the interplay of class, budget and family size and expectations (amongst other factors) shaped each house. It is through these life stories that more about life in Christchurch in the nineteenth century was revealed. These are stories of men and women, of success and failure, of businesses and bankruptcies. There are themes that run through the stories: class, appearances, death, religion, gender, improvement. Just as importantly, though, they reveal the everyday experiences of people as they set about building a new city. Thus, through the archaeology of the houses and the history of the people who built them, an earthquake has revealed more about life in nineteenth century Christchurch, as well as providing the means for a deeper understanding of the city’s domestic architecture.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of a panel summary at the 2015 Seismics and the City forum, featuring Hon. Nicky Wagner, Associate Minister for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery; John Ombler, Acting CEO of CERA; Ian Townsend, CEO of CERA; Raf Manji, Finance Spokesperson at the Christchurch City Council; Peter Townsend, CEO of Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce; and Joanna Norris, Editor of The Press.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Bricks have fallen from the walls of the former Princess Cinema in New Brighton, exposing the interior. The photographer comments, "Back of the old Princess Cinema in New Brighton after the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand on 22 February. In this picture you can see inside the old cinema curtains. This building has now been knocked down as it was so dangerous".

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video about the government's financial aid plan for workers affected by the 4 September 2010 earthquake. Prime Minister John Key has travelled to Christchurch to announce the plan. This video includes footage of a press conference with John Key at the Christchurch Art Gallery. It also includes footage of John Key meeting residents at the Civil Defence Centre at Addington Raceway.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Workers operate a drilling rig, sampling soil as part of EQC's geotechnical investigation of TC3 land. The photographer comments, "The work of getting 'soil' samples from all the areas marked as green/blue zones in Christchurch. These areas may be susceptible to liquefaction if a major earthquake occurs. The soil samples were a failure as all they found was sand".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A building on St Asaph Street has been demolished, exposing the interior structure of the adjoining building. The photographer comments, "The building that this one was part of has been demolished and the join looks very much like the exterior walls of an Anglo-Saxon house. It has been exposed due to the demolition of damaged buildings after the Christchurch earthquake".

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

Corner of Cashel and Madras streets, with the relatively new (built 2007) Inland Revenue Building and the white chair memorial to the 185 lives lost as a result of the 22/02/11 earthquake. The chairs sit on the site of the now demolished St Pauls Pacific Chuch and is diagonally across the intersection from the CTV (Canterbury TV) building where ...

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

Today (04/09/14) marks the fourth anniversary since the first earthquake rocked the city and greater Christchurch area. That first quake was magnitude 7.1, and luckily there was only one fatality (possible a heart attack). Since then we have had over 14,000 quakes, most very small in magnitude, but well over 500 of magnitude 4 or greater. 5...

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

The Forsyth Barr building has stood silent and empty (except the occasional intruder and pigeons) since the February 2011 earthquake. It was sold "as is" and I understand that it is now going to be fitted out as a hotel. This is the building that had severe stairwell damage during the quake necessitating people being lowered via ropes etc on t...

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

In September 2010 and February 2011, the Canterbury region experienced devastating earthquakes with an estimated economic cost of over NZ$40 billion (Parker and Steenkamp, 2012; Timar et al., 2014; Potter et al., 2015). The insurance market played an important role in rebuilding the Canterbury region after the earthquakes. Homeowners, insurance and reinsurance markets and New Zealand government agencies faced a difficult task to manage the rebuild process. From an empirical and theoretic research viewpoint, the Christchurch disaster calls for an assessment of how the insurance market deals with such disasters in the future. Previous studies have investigated market responses to losses in global catastrophes by focusing on the insurance supply-side. This study investigates both demand-side and supply-side insurance market responses to the Christchurch earthquakes. Despite the fact that New Zealand is prone to seismic activities, there are scant previous studies in the area of earthquake insurance. This study does offer a unique opportunity to examine and document the New Zealand insurance market response to catastrophe risk, providing results critical for understanding market responses after major loss events in general. A review of previous studies shows higher premiums suppress demand, but how higher premiums and a higher probability of risk affect demand is still largely unknown. According to previous studies, the supply of disaster coverage is curtailed unless the market is subsidised, however, there is still unsettled discussion on why demand decreases with time from the previous disaster even when the supply of coverage is subsidised by the government. Natural disaster risks pose a set of challenges for insurance market players because of substantial ambiguity associated with the probability of such events occurring and high spatial correlation of catastrophe losses. Private insurance market inefficiencies due to high premiums and spatially concentrated risks calls for government intervention in the provision of natural disaster insurance to avert situations of noninsurance and underinsurance. Political economy considerations make it more likely for government support to be called for if many people are uninsured than if few people are uninsured. However, emergency assistance for property owners after catastrophe events can encourage most property owners to not buy insurance against natural disaster and develop adverse selection behaviour, generating larger future risks for homeowners and governments. On the demand-side, this study has developed an intertemporal model to examine how demand for insurance changes post-catastrophe, and how to model it theoretically. In this intertemporal model, insurance can be sought in two sequential periods of time, and at the second period, it is known whether or not a loss event happened in period one. The results show that period one demand for insurance increases relative to the standard single period model when the second period is taken into consideration, period two insurance demand is higher post-loss, higher than both the period one demand and the period two demand without a period one loss. To investigate policyholders experience from the demand-side perspective, a total of 1600 survey questionnaires were administered, and responses from 254 participants received representing a 16 percent response rate. Survey data was gathered from four institutions in Canterbury and is probably not representative of the entire population. The results of the survey show that the change from full replacement value policy to nominated replacement value policy is a key determinant of the direction of change in the level of insurance coverage after the earthquakes. The earthquakes also highlighted the plight of those who were underinsured, prompting policyholders to update their insurance coverage to reflect the estimated cost of re-building their property. The survey has added further evidence to the existing literature, such as those who have had a recent experience with disaster loss report increased risk perception if a similar event happens in future with females reporting a higher risk perception than males. Of the demographic variables, only gender has a relationship with changes in household cover. On the supply-side, this study has built a risk-based pricing model suitable to generate a competitive premium rate for natural disaster insurance cover. Using illustrative data from the Christchurch Red-zone suburbs, the model generates competitive premium rates for catastrophe risk. When the proposed model incorporates the new RMS high-definition New Zealand Earthquake Model, for example, insurers can find the model useful to identify losses at a granular level so as to calculate the competitive premium. This study observes that the key to the success of the New Zealand dual insurance system despite the high prevalence of catastrophe losses are; firstly the EQC’s flat-rate pricing structure keeps private insurance premiums affordable and very high nationwide homeowner take-up rates of natural disaster insurance. Secondly, private insurers and the EQC have an elaborate reinsurance arrangement in place. By efficiently transferring risk to the reinsurer, the cost of writing primary insurance is considerably reduced ultimately expanding primary insurance capacity and supply of insurance coverage.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Fine grained sediment deposition in urban environments during natural hazard events can impact critical infrastructure and properties (urban terrain) leading to reduced social and economic function and potentially adverse public health effects. Therefore, clean-up of the sediments is required to minimise impacts and restore social and economic functionality as soon as possible. The strategies employed to manage and coordinate the clean-up significantly influence the speed, cost and quality of the clean-up operation. Additionally, the physical properties of the fine grained sediment affects the clean-up, transport, storage and future usage of the sediment. The goals of the research are to assess the resources, time and cost required for fine grained sediment clean-up in an urban environment following a disaster and to determine how the geotechnical properties of sediment will affect urban clean-up strategies. The thesis focuses on the impact of fine grained sediment (<1 mm) deposition from three liquefaction events during the Canterbury earthquake sequence (2010-2011) on residential suburbs and transport networks in Christchurch. It also presents how geotechnical properties of the material may affect clean-up strategies and methods by presenting geotechnical analysis of tephra material from the North Island of New Zealand. Finally, lessons for disaster response planning and decision making for clean-up of sediment in urban environments are presented. A series of semi-structured interviews of key stakeholders supported by relevant academic literature and media reports were used to record the clean-up operation coordination and management and to make a preliminary qualification of the Christchurch liquefaction ejecta clean-up (costs breakdown, time, volume, resources, coordination, planning and priorities). Further analysis of the costs and resources involved for better accuracy was required and so the analysis of Christchurch City Council road management database (RAMM) was done. In order to make a transition from general fine sediment clean-up to specific types of fine disaster sediment clean-up, adequate information about the material properties is required as they will define how the material will be handled, transported and stored. Laboratory analysis of young volcanic tephra from the New Zealand’s North Island was performed to identify their geotechnical properties (density, granulometry, plasticity, composition and angle of repose). The major findings of this research were that emergency planning and the use of the coordinated incident management system (CIMS) system during the emergency were important to facilitate rapid clean-up tasking, management of resources and ultimately recovery from widespread and voluminous liquefaction ejecta deposition in eastern Christchurch. A total estimated cost of approximately $NZ 40 million was calculated for the Christchurch City clean-up following the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence with a partial cost of $NZ 12 million for the Southern part of the city, where up to 33% (418 km) of the road network was impacted by liquefaction ejecta and required clearing of the material following the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Over 500,000 tonnes of ejecta has been stockpiled at Burwood landfill for all three liquefaction inducing earthquake events. The average cost per kilometre for the event clean-up was $NZ 5,500/km (4 September 2010), $NZ 11,650/km (22 February 2011) and $NZ 11,185/km (13 June 2011). The duration of clean-up time of residential properties and the road network was approximately two to three months for each of the three liquefaction ejecta events; despite events volumes and spatial distribution of ejecta. Interviews and quantitative analysis of RAMM data revealed that the experience and knowledge gained from the Darfield earthquake (4 September 2010) clean-up increased the efficiency of the following Christchurch earthquake induced liquefaction ejecta clean-up events. Density, particle size, particle shape, clay content and moisture content, are the important geotechnical properties that need to be considered when planning for a clean-up method that incorporates collection, transport and disposal or storage. The geotechnical properties for the tephra samples were analysed to increase preparedness and reaction response of potentially affected North Island cities from possible product from the active volcanoes in their region. The geotechnical results from this study show that volcanic tephra could be used in road or construction material but the properties would have to be further investigated for a New Zealand context. Using fresh volcanic material in road, building or flood control construction requires good understanding of the material properties and precaution during design and construction to extra care, but if well planned, it can be economically beneficial.

Images, Alexander Turnbull Library

Text at top left reads 'Why Christchurch should have the World Cup' Following are four cameos that show tents representing 'Lots if low cost accommodation', 'Plenty of toilet facilities', 'aftershock home advantage' as the ball misses the goal post because it sways, and a 'free hard-hat with each ticket' Context - Anxiety about whether Christchurch can still hold the Rugby World Cup fixtures that are planned. A decision was made that it was not possible. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).