Best of the Week - 17 September 2010

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 17 September. This week........criticism of some media over coverage of the Canterbury earthquake, the French five hour working week exposed, Sir Keith Park's legacy 70 years after the Battle of Britain, Cold - a new book explores this temperature good and bad and fond memories shared of the Monde Marie coffee shop in Wellington.

Court decision on EQC policy bittersweet for Flockton residents

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Residents of Christchurch's flood-prone Flockton Basin say a court judgment on how the Earthquake Commission handles claims based on the increased flood risk caused by the earthquakes is bitter sweet.

Disappointment as Bishop decides to demolish Chch cathedral

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch's Blessed Sacrament Cathedral was set to be repaired following the Canterbury earthquakes, but the new Bishop Paul Martin has decided it's too expensive and has decided to rebuild closer to the city centre.

Kaikoura cheese shop rolling again

Audio, Radio New Zealand

After the Christchurch earthquakes, Daniel and Sarah Jenkins decided to pack up everything they own and move to Kaikoura. They opened Kaikoura Cheese and talked to our reporter Max Towle about getting the shop rolling again

Chch school says it's been blindsided by proposal to shut it down.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A Christchurch school says it's been blindsided by a proposal to shut it down. Redcliffs School has been running out of a deaf education centre in Sumner since the earthquakes.

23 job losses as Nelson rest home closes

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Elderly and ill people evacuated from Christchurch to Nelson after the February earthquake are having to move for a second time, following the sudden closure of a rest home in Nelson.

CERA spending money when cheaper option exists

Audio, Radio New Zealand

People in Christchurch fighting to save their Port Hills homes are astounded the Earthquake Recovery Authority is set on spending millions of dollars to buy them out when a cheaper option exists.

Town close to first quake epicentre getting back to normal

Audio, Radio New Zealand

It was just a little under an hour and a half ago, two years today, that a seven-point-one magnitude earthquake shook Canterbury.

Lawyer argues design faults did not cause CTV to collapse

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The lawyer for the man whose company designed the CTV building says it was the strength and number of Canterbury earthquakes that caused its collaspe, and not any design faults.

Nothing to fear over buildings identified as potentially weak

Audio, Radio New Zealand

People will be told by Christmas if they are in unsafe buildings that have the same flaw as the CTV building, which collapsed killing 115 people in the Christchurch earthquake.

The government's quake safety deadline

Audio, Radio New Zealand

With Andrew Cleland - Chief Executive of the Institution of Professional Engineers NZ. Dr Maan Alkaisi - Co-chair Christchurch Earthquake Families Group. Maurice Williamson - Minister for Building and Construction.

City Mission says there's a 'new level of poor' in Christchurch

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A Christchurch catering company has joined forces with the City Mission to tackle what is being described as a new era of poverty after the Canterbury earthquakes.

City council could lose power to authorise building consents

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch City Council has received a strong warning from the Earthquake Recovery Minister to speed up its processing of building consents or lose its power to authorise consents.

Misleading EQC level estimates a worry for house values

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Some Canterbury homeowners say their houses are dropping in value because of misleading estimates of damage to foundations from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.

Chch East locals want an MP to breathe life into electorate

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Voters in Christchurch East say many are still suffering - three years on from the devastating earthquakes and want a new MP who will breathe life into the electorate.

Chch still waiting for transport plan three years on

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Three years on from the earthquakes that crippled Christchurch's infrastructure, the city has yet to see costings and timeframes for the delivery of a revamped transport system for the central city.

Three years on, Christchurch natural beauty still not restored

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The 6.7 magnitude earthquake which struck Christchurch three years ago didn't just destroy large amounts of the city's infrastructure, it also had a profound effect on the natural environment.

One of the most expensive options for Christchurch schools

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Cabinet papers show the government's one-billion-dollar plan for reorganising Christchurch schools in the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes is one of the most expensive options it could have chosen.

Lyttelton Port Expansion Worries some Banks Peninsula Residents

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Lyttelton Port near Christchurch is now almost three and a half hectares larger than it was before the earthquakes - as earthquake rubble is dumped in the harbour to reclaim land.

Summing up today in Tower earthquake insurance case

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Both sides are expected to sum up their cases today in the legal battle between Tower Insurance and a Christchurch couple, over the amount owed on an earthquake damaged home.

EQC forced into embarrassing admission on privacy breach.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Earthquake Commission has been forced into an embarrassing admission that the details of all 83-thousand clients in its Canterbury Home Repair programme have been accidentally emailed to the wrong address.

Chch maying be missing out on millions in insurance

Audio, Radio New Zealand

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.

The Panel with Michelle Boag and Brian Edwards (part 1)

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The cost of insurance could rise by 20 per cent as a result of the Government bailout of AMI Insurance and the mounting cost of the Canterbury earthquakes.

Chch churches face tough decisions over rebuilding

Audio, Radio New Zealand

As part of the future of Christchurch it is expected a third of all Catholic and almost half of all Presbyterian churches damaged in Christchurch's February earthquake might not be rebuilt.

Labour MPs pressure government to release land details

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Labour's four MPs in Christchurch are stepping up the pressure on the Government to front up quickly about what earthquake damaged land has to be abandoned.

Some small businesses back but face struggle

Audio, Radio New Zealand

As businesses in Christchurch start to think about what, if any, help they can expect from the government following Tuesday's devastating earthquake, some small businesses around the city are starting to reopen.

One week on, vigils to be held for those who died in quake

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Anglican and Catholic churches will unite today, holding services with cathedral bells tolling throughout the country in remembrance of those who died in the Christchurch earthquake.

Ethnic migrants displaced by quake find solace in Auckland

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Ethnic migrants from Christchurch displaced by the earthquake are being given some much needed cultural and spiritual comfort from a centre in Auckland's Waitakere district.

English warns deficit will climb above 11 billion

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Treasury is forecasting the Christchurch earthquake will slow economic activity and the Finance Minister says the forecast 11-billion dollar Budget deficit this year will also climb.

Almost 100 jobs to go at Grand Chancellor Hotel

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Almost 100 people are losing their jobs at Christchurch's Hotel Grand Chancellor this Friday, the latest in a series of significant job losses in the wake of the earthquake.