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1 day ago
Apparently there is 3-4k people here #eqnz #Chch
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1 day ago
The Wizard of #Chch
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1 day ago
Mike Coleman
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1 day ago
At the protest for a better Council #eqnz #Chch
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1 day ago from bookmarkletGordon Campbell » On today’s protest march in #Chch
| Bang on, Mr Campbell.
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3 days ago
This map shows the Canterbury Region and the Local Authorities boundaries.
If the government tries to create a unitary authority, or several, they are going to have a huge fight on their hands from both rural councils and urban councils. The risks to rural areas, in terms of a democratic deficit, far outweigh those to urban areas.
I think the government’s agenda is to give control of the rivers and waterways to the irrigators and to reduce the hurdles to fossil-fuel extraction (i.e. fracking). However, the politics of both a controversial and it will be a rocky path for the government to take.
You only have to look at what happened when Christchurch City, Selwyn and Waimakariri jointly opposed the privatisation of roads in the 90s to see the sort of bun-fight the government is in for.
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3 days ago from bookmarkletFuse lit under 'Bob and Tony show' | #Chch #CCC #EQNZ |
Interesting reflection by Sam Sachdeva, putting the government’s decision to impose an Observer into context.
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3 days ago from bookmarkletGod locked out of Mt Eden prison cells - National - NZ Herald |
This is just so utterly appalling. I guess rehabilitation isn’t any good for business, and neither is having NGOs running around the prisons who actually think of criminals as human beings.
The market incentives for private prisons are perverse - the worse crime gets, the more money they make. That is why I am totally opposed to private ownership of prisons. Non-profit-run wings, great, but for-profit, no thanks.
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6 days ago
#Chch #EQNZ #CCC | The Mayor bid-up the CEO’s salary three times.
The newly-released record (available from here) of the resolutions passed at the Public Excluded meeting of the CCC show that the Mayor moved THREE resolutions increasing the CEO’s salary from what had been previously agreed by 10-2 of the Councillors: he was on a mission.
It moved from a CPI increase (moved Buck/Broughton: 10-2), which is fair, to 103% (Buck/Broughton: 10-2), to 105% (Parker/Button: 8-4), to 107% (Parker/Button: 8-4) to the final 108.9% (Parker/Corbett: 8-4) of his previous rate.
Parker, Button, Keown, Corbett, Wells and Reid supported it all the way to the top. Chen supported the CPI increase only. Livingstone and Johanson opposed any increase.
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6 days ago
Port Hills Geotech Update #Chch #EQNZ
Groundtruthing of GNS reports begins 27 January 2012
Geotechnical engineers this week began the “ground-truthing” of a Final Draft of the Life-safety Risk from Rockfall report prepared by GNS Science for the Christchurch City Council.
This involves the site-specific, on-site assessment of rockfall hazard areas identified through risk modelling
in the GNS Science Rockfall report*.
The work is expected to cover the bulk of the areas affected by rockfall hazards across the entire Port Hills,
with around 395 residential properties, out of a total 524 that have been issued section 124s for rockfall
hazards, covered.
The ground-truthing does not cover 129 residential properties that have a section 124 notice for either cliff
collapse or other hazards such as access or retaining walls. No dates for ground-truthing of these other hazards have yet been agreed with GNS Science as the modelling/reports for these hazards are still in development.
The ground-truthing will:
• See if any section 124 notices can be lifted because the property is not in danger of rockfall
• Identify areas that could be suitable for long term protective works that could be undertaken which would result in section 124 notices being lifted
• Geotechnical engineers may find there are areas or specific properties where the risk of rockfall and boulder roll is extremely high. If so, they will inform the Council so that action can be taken tokeep residents safe. This has been occurring as part of ongoing assessments for the past six months and residents will be contacted as part of this process.
The work is expected to be completed by the end of March 2012, with areas of identified risk being prioritised. Geotechnical engineers plan to start in areas where section 124 notices prohibiting entry to buildings have been issued, then move through other areas and suburbs in the hills. It is important to note, that the methodology that has been developed is a ‘first’ for New Zealand and as such a calibration exercise must be completed to ensure that the work being undertaken delivers a consistent result for all residents affected.
