The National Science Challenge ‘Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities’ is currently undertaking work that, in part, identifies and analyses the Waimakariri District Council’s (WMK/Council) organisational practices and process tools. The focus is on determining the processes that made the Residential Red Zone Recovery Plan, 2016 (RRZRP) collaboration process so effective and compares it to the processes used to inform the current Kaiapoi Town Centre Plan - 2028 and Beyond (KTC Plan). This research aims to explore ‘what travelled’ in terms of values, principles, methods, processes and personnel from the RRZRP to the KTC planning process. My research will add depth to this research by examining more closely the KTC Plan’s hearings process, reviewing submissions made, analysing background documents and by conducting five semi-structured interviews with a selection of people who made submissions on the KTC Plan. The link between community involvement and best recovery outcomes has been acknowledged in literature as well as by humanitarian agencies (Lawther, 2009; Sullivan, 2003). My research has documented WMK’s post-quake community engagement strategy by focusing on their initial response to the earthquake of 2010 and the two-formal plan (RRZRP and KTC Plan) making procedures that succeeded this response. My research has led me to conclude that WMK was committed to collaborating with their constituents right through the extended post-quake sequence. Iterative face to face or ‘think communications’ combined with the accessibility of all levels of Council staff – including senior management and elected members - gave interested community members the opportunity to discuss and deliberate the proposed plans with the people tasked with preparing them. WMK’s commitment to collaborate is illustrated by the methods they employed to inform their post-quake efforts and plans and by the logic behind the selected methods. Combined the Council’s logic and methods best describe the ‘Waimakariri Way’. My research suggests that collaborative planning is iterative in nature. It is therefore difficult to establish a specific starting point where collaboration begins as the relationships needed for the collaborative process constantly (re)emerge out of pre-existing relationships. Collaboration seems to be based on an attitude, which means there is no starting ‘point’ as such, rather an amplification for a time of a basic attitude towards the public.
Disaster recovery involves the restoration, repair and rejuvenation of both hard and soft infrastructure. In this report we present observationsfrom seven case studies of collaborative planning from post-earthquake Canterbury, each of which was selected as a means of better understanding ‘soft infrastructure for hard times’. Though our investigation is located within a disaster recovery context, we argue that the lessons learned are widely applicable. Our seven case studies highlighted that the nature of the planning process or journey is as important as the planning objective or destination. A focus on the journey can promote positive outcomes in and of itself through building enduring relationships, fostering diverse leaders, developing new skills and capabilities, and supporting translation and navigation. Collaborative planning depends as much upon emotional intelligence as it does technical competence, and we argue that having a collaborative attitude is more important than following prescriptive collaborative planning formulae. Being present and allowing plenty of time are also key. Although deliberation is often seen as an improvement on technocratic and expertdominated decision-making models, we suggest that the focus in the academic literature on communicative rationality and discursive democracy has led us to overlook other more active forms of planning that occur in various sites and settings. Instead, we offer an expanded understanding of what planning is, where it happens and who is involved. We also suggest more attention be given to values, particularly in terms of their role as a compass for navigating the terrain of decision-making in the collaborative planning process. We conclude with a revised model of a (collaborative) decision-making cycle that we suggest may be more appropriate when (re)building better homes, towns and cities.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Workers pull down the two chimneys at Community House in Timaru after they were damaged in the earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Workers pull down the two chimneys at Community House in Timaru after they were damaged in the earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Workers pull down the two chimneys at Community House in Timaru after they were damaged in the earthquake".
A PDF copy of signage for the Places of Tranquillity initiative. Healthy Christchurch lead the collaborative project to create six gardens of beauty and peace to fill in some of the grey demolition sites across Christchurch. The signage promotes the initiative and invites people to register to create tranquil gardens at healthychristchurch.org.nz. From healthychristchurch.org.nz: "Healthy Christchurch is leading this innovative collaboration creating six gardens of beauty and peace to fill in some of the grey demolition sites across Christchurch.These gardens are for peace and tranquillity as well as family and community use with spaces designed for both." "This is a Healthy Christchurch collaboration in partnership with the city's ethnic communities to include their traditions, cultures and spiritual beliefs. This ensures that these communities' voices and presence is more visible in the rebuild of our city. There are three key partners in this collaborative project. Greening the Rubble are providing expertise in temporary site development and project managing the creation. Lincoln University School of Landscape Architecture provided the student competition and are supporting the winning students and their designs into fruition. Community and Public Health (CDHB) provide the overall project management, networks and promotion." "In 2012 Lincoln University School of Landscape Architecture students created 40 beautiful designs for the Places of Tranquillity. Six winning designs were chosen from the 995 votes made online or at the displays at Community and Public Health and the Migrant Centre. The six winners were announced at the Healthy Christchurch Hui on the 31st May 2012. Each winning student received a Certificate and a $50 Scorpio Book Voucher. The awards were presented by Michelle Mitchell, General Manager of the CERA Wellbeing Team."
A photograph of scaffolding in SOL Square, with La Petit Croix French Restaurant and Café to the right.
A photograph of a gap between the Craig's Investment Partner House and the Victoria Apartments on Armagh Street
A photograph of a cordon made out of temporary plastic fencing outside the Empire Hotel on London Street in Lyttelton.
A photograph of Rydges Hotel taken from behind a cordon fence on the Gloucester Street bridge near Cambridge Terrace.
A photograph of the EPIC Innovation Centre under construction on the corner of St Asaph Street and Manchester Street.
A photograph of the EPIC Innovation Centre under construction on the corner of St Asaph Street and Manchester Street.
A photograph of the EPIC Innovation Centre under construction on the corner of St Asaph Street and Manchester Street.
A photograph of members from the New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue team and various workers walking along Gloucester Street.
A photograph of cracks across a road in Canterbury caused by the 4 September 2010 earthquake.
A photograph of the rubble from the demolished Manchester Securities House on the corner of Madras and Gloucester Streets.
An entry from Jennifer Middendorf's blog for 29 August 2014 entitled, "Day off".
The former Post Office on the corner of Oxford Street and Norwich Quay with wire fencing around the building.
A pile of bricks, insulation, and pieces of chimney flue awaiting collection beside Burwood Road in Burwood.
A man making coffee in the Buzz Coffe mobife coffee vender, at Gap Filler's cycle-powered cinema.
The Think Differently Book Exchange fridge, now decorated with paper cut outs and filled with books.
The Jewish Community is outraged at the allegation Israeli citizens in Christchurch at the time of the February earthquake had links to Israeli intelligence.
An Ashburton couple who cooked barbecues for earthquake-weary Christchurch residents for nine months following the February quake have been named the joint winners of the Trustpower Community Awards.
Members of the public bowl on the CPIT students' 1950s bowling alley in town.ing
A member of the public bowling on the CPIT students' 1950s bowling alley in town.
An entry from Jennifer Middendorf's blog for 3 September 2013 entitled, "Three".
An entry from Jennifer Middendorf's blog for 20 September 2013 entitled, "Show and tell".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 30 September 2013 entitled, "Scape 'n' Streets".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's Blog for 21 November 2013 entitled, "Play Park".
A story submitted by Brenda Greene to the QuakeStories website.