Got to know Mark a couple of years after the EQ. His son Mason and my son were in the same football team. A truly loving and supportive father and a genuinely nice and humble man. He really felt that he was just doing his job and modestly down played his role in the rescue effort. Very saddened by this news. RIP mate.
The Government needs to step in urgently and legalise against this craziness. On the one hand CHCH residents are warned to cut down on water usage and threatened with water restrictions. On the other hand you have foreign interests gleefully extracting water with impunity for free! Where is the justice in this!! Transparency and openness is called for in these dealings to ensure there is not even a perception of conspiracy or illegal activities being carried out behind the scenes! On a wider front, some oversight and governance is in order for ECan. What is their role? They certainly are more interested in furthering commercial interest instead of safeguarding the environment?
Thanks for some light entertainment news on the Cathedral for a change! We now have Cath the resident cat to consider in the rebuild. Make sure the design allows for a comfy spot for Cath - including a cat flap! Also might as well build in an aviary for the pigeons and a roost for the falcons overlooking the aviary! LOL
Come on dont be distracted by these trivial and wasteful matters! Why spend money which is much needed elsewhere on buying a house. This sets a precedent with the excuse of preserving history. Where will this end?
Its important that any immigrant in a new country should try their best to integrate into their new country. They choose to come so must be prepared to embrace what attracted them to the country in the first place and not try to change the country to what they left. This means not sticking to their own but making the effort to learn the language culture and a new life. Most migrants do attempt to. Unfortunately it takes two to tango! Many migrants give up because they are faced with people who stereotype and do not warmly welcome them. The result is migrants can then become alienated and also feel unwanted. Both sides must try their best.
The State Services Commission has strict codes for Chief Executives to disclose the 1 purpose of benefits received. The SSC requirements should extend to all local government authorities like Councils. Is the mayor that naïve to think that there are no strings attached to a fully paid trip? Come on where is the governance over such matters? Simply asking for a debrief is not enough. How do you ensure that there are no conflicts of interest issues later?
More money spent on PR and Comms! Come on CCC just focus on what needs to be done to QUICKLY fix the city, its roads etc instead of getting distracted with the fancy baubles! Everything is just too slow!
So whose fault is it? Is it a flaw in the budgeting process used by CCC? If so, then this flawed process will impact other budgets too. if it is not a flaw in the process, then a mistake was made in which case someone needs to be held accountable. Either way, a decision was made that was not correctly informed or worse could be intentionally misinformed! The decision not only has financial impact but also health and reputational impact on CHCH for many years ahead! All that promotion on beautifying the city will be undermined by not even getting the basic function of providing clean safe water to its ratepayers without incurring further unnecessary costs! This bread and butter function should be a given for CCC. In my view that is a fail mark!
If the CCC cant pull out of the programme, the only way forward is to try to control the costs and reduce the blow-out. I suggest that the procurement process of awarding the contracts for repairing the well heads and the chlorination supply and maintenance be very tightly scrutinised and audited to ensure these contracts are awarded in a competitive open tender process to the most cost effective contractors with a cap against uncontrolled increases in future years.
Sad to say it will be another waste of money creating wide spaces on precious land. The money could be better spent elsewhere instead of pavers and stones! I wonder how much of the $20 million spent so far is on the expensive pavers and stones which need to be laid slowly one-by-one? Lets take a photo now and another one in 6 months and see the degeneration to a dirty hobo haunt! Ah maybe its meant for the e scooters to use!!!?
Well done Stuff and Environment reporter Dominic Harris for continuing to track this story! Please continue to be tenacious in getting to the truth and reporting it. This is a very serious issue that impacts not just CHCH but the whole of NZ now and into the future! Please pursue the Ministers to resolve this not just settling for excuses and fob offs given by the parties like consultation and robust and stringent processes followed. Actual progress needs to be made and reported to all NZ.
The rebuild is simply taking too long! whose fault is it? The CCC and the other government rebuild agencies in their eagerness to future-proof the city have gone overboard, especially building the cycle lanes thus adding to the timeframe. The walking paths are also too elaborate with fancy paving stones that take ages to install piece by piece. They forgot about businesses which need customers to reach them! Most customers can only reach them by car not bicycle! But where is the accessible parking? Which business can survive without customers for so long? So they have created a chicken and egg problem. Which business is going there when there are no customers and who would want to live there when there are no businesses! How to break this vicious cycle? FINISH OFF THE PROJECTS, especially the roads and access ways asap as top priority! Then have affordable housing not grandiose luxury apartments that price themselves out of the market. Give businesses a rebate to allow time for them to establish themselves.
The CCC is confused and sending mixed messages! If they want more people in the city walking around and enjoying the walkways why put scooters in the mix? You could have scooter hoons going at speed risking hitting pedestrians. Should CCC take part of the responsibility if a pedestrian is harmed by a scooter? Typical unclear thinking and planning. Drivers now fear hitting pedestrians and scooters! Pedestrians now fear being hit wherever! Great job CCC creating an enjoyable city with a bit of fear factor thrown in!
The sceptic in me sees the third winner of Powerball on MyLotto being a managed way to get more people to bet through a more convenient and easy channel. Great advertising and promotion for more people to gamble the modern way. Awesome eh?
It seems to strike people in middle age because at that age you become aware of your mortality and start to question whats coming. You may have achieved much success in life but whats next? Inevitably all of us face the same end point. If you do not know where you are heading when you are fast approaching that end point it does become scary and you question whats the point in striving for stuff when it is all meaningless! Everyone has to search for meaning in life and the aim is to lead a life of significance. To know what happens when we die. It will be interesting to see the statistics of those who believe there is hope after death on earth compared to those who are agnostic or atheists.
Had one zoom noiselessly and fast pass just missed hitting me on the footpath! The rider was grinning and obviously happy with his new toy. Not to sound mean but those pearly white teeth wont be there for long once he hits a rut or a wee pebble. I wait for CCC to show the stats on accidents - hopefully there will not be any fatalities among the stats.
This is a sad indictment of the present crazy world we live in. The people who are doing illegal activities become empowered to go after well meaning people. Yes the proctor should not have done it but it says a lot when the bongs are flagrantly flouted without any attempt to conceal them! Much of the Proctors focus is on working informally with students to help them meet the universitys behavioural expectations, and to help them avoid disciplinary processes or the attention of the criminal law.This approach is clearly not working and being taken adavantage of! this whole sorry mess will probably end with the proctor being charged and the students involved laughing, cheering and getting away with it scott free!
And they have just finished the roadworks along Tuam Street! Meanwhile, they are now meticulously laying beautifully neat bricks along Oxford Terrace - right next to where the new build will be! When the big trucks arrive and construction begins, Tuam Street and Oxford Terrace will likely be dug up again - more unnecessary costs and inconvenience. Great! Hurrah for all the coordination efforts!
"Chinese businessman Yikun Zhang 'disappointed' in being named in Jami-Lee Ross scandal",
Chinese officials interested in Southlands produce, its pristine water would be an attractive produce indeed!
Top firefighter and honoured earthquake hero dies in North Canterbury
Got to know Mark a couple of years after the EQ. His son Mason and my son were in the same football team. A truly loving and supportive father and a genuinely nice and humble man. He really felt that he was just doing his job and modestly down played his role in the rescue effort. Very saddened by this news. RIP mate.
Fears over threat to city drinking supplies from water bottling plant
The Government needs to step in urgently and legalise against this craziness. On the one hand CHCH residents are warned to cut down on water usage and threatened with water restrictions. On the other hand you have foreign interests gleefully extracting water with impunity for free! Where is the justice in this!! Transparency and openness is called for in these dealings to ensure there is not even a perception of conspiracy or illegal activities being carried out behind the scenes! On a wider front, some oversight and governance is in order for ECan. What is their role? They certainly are more interested in furthering commercial interest instead of safeguarding the environment?
Does this video prove cats are living in the ruins of Christ Church Cathedral?
Thanks for some light entertainment news on the Cathedral for a change! We now have Cath the resident cat to consider in the rebuild. Make sure the design allows for a comfy spot for Cath - including a cat flap! Also might as well build in an aviary for the pigeons and a roost for the falcons overlooking the aviary! LOL
Government could buy Kate Sheppard's historic Christchurch home
Come on dont be distracted by these trivial and wasteful matters! Why spend money which is much needed elsewhere on buying a house. This sets a precedent with the excuse of preserving history. Where will this end?
Grim findings in China survey
Its important that any immigrant in a new country should try their best to integrate into their new country. They choose to come so must be prepared to embrace what attracted them to the country in the first place and not try to change the country to what they left. This means not sticking to their own but making the effort to learn the language culture and a new life. Most migrants do attempt to. Unfortunately it takes two to tango! Many migrants give up because they are faced with people who stereotype and do not warmly welcome them. The result is migrants can then become alienated and also feel unwanted. Both sides must try their best.
"Chinese businessman Yikun Zhang 'disappointed' in being named in Jami-Lee Ross scandal",
The State Services Commission has strict codes for Chief Executives to disclose the 1 purpose of benefits received. The SSC requirements should extend to all local government authorities like Councils. Is the mayor that naïve to think that there are no strings attached to a fully paid trip? Come on where is the governance over such matters? Simply asking for a debrief is not enough. How do you ensure that there are no conflicts of interest issues later?
"Christchurch invites investors and newcomers to 'explore the opportunity'",
More money spent on PR and Comms! Come on CCC just focus on what needs to be done to QUICKLY fix the city, its roads etc instead of getting distracted with the fancy baubles! Everything is just too slow!
Cost to keep Christchurch's drinking water safe spirals to nearly $40 million
So whose fault is it? Is it a flaw in the budgeting process used by CCC? If so, then this flawed process will impact other budgets too. if it is not a flaw in the process, then a mistake was made in which case someone needs to be held accountable. Either way, a decision was made that was not correctly informed or worse could be intentionally misinformed! The decision not only has financial impact but also health and reputational impact on CHCH for many years ahead! All that promotion on beautifying the city will be undermined by not even getting the basic function of providing clean safe water to its ratepayers without incurring further unnecessary costs! This bread and butter function should be a given for CCC. In my view that is a fail mark!
Cost to keep Christchurch's drinking water safe spirals to nearly $40 million
If the CCC cant pull out of the programme, the only way forward is to try to control the costs and reduce the blow-out. I suggest that the procurement process of awarding the contracts for repairing the well heads and the chlorination supply and maintenance be very tightly scrutinised and audited to ensure these contracts are awarded in a competitive open tender process to the most cost effective contractors with a cap against uncontrolled increases in future years.
"South frame's Kahikatea Common opens up more community spaces",
Sad to say it will be another waste of money creating wide spaces on precious land. The money could be better spent elsewhere instead of pavers and stones! I wonder how much of the $20 million spent so far is on the expensive pavers and stones which need to be laid slowly one-by-one? Lets take a photo now and another one in 6 months and see the degeneration to a dirty hobo haunt! Ah maybe its meant for the e scooters to use!!!?
Fears over threat to city drinking supplies from water bottling plant
Well done Stuff and Environment reporter Dominic Harris for continuing to track this story! Please continue to be tenacious in getting to the truth and reporting it. This is a very serious issue that impacts not just CHCH but the whole of NZ now and into the future! Please pursue the Ministers to resolve this not just settling for excuses and fob offs given by the parties like consultation and robust and stringent processes followed. Actual progress needs to be made and reported to all NZ.
Project 8011 plans to repopulate central Christchurch
The rebuild is simply taking too long! whose fault is it? The CCC and the other government rebuild agencies in their eagerness to future-proof the city have gone overboard, especially building the cycle lanes thus adding to the timeframe. The walking paths are also too elaborate with fancy paving stones that take ages to install piece by piece. They forgot about businesses which need customers to reach them! Most customers can only reach them by car not bicycle! But where is the accessible parking? Which business can survive without customers for so long? So they have created a chicken and egg problem. Which business is going there when there are no customers and who would want to live there when there are no businesses! How to break this vicious cycle? FINISH OFF THE PROJECTS, especially the roads and access ways asap as top priority! Then have affordable housing not grandiose luxury apartments that price themselves out of the market. Give businesses a rebate to allow time for them to establish themselves.
700 shared electric scooters to be let loose on Christchurch streets
The CCC is confused and sending mixed messages! If they want more people in the city walking around and enjoying the walkways why put scooters in the mix? You could have scooter hoons going at speed risking hitting pedestrians. Should CCC take part of the responsibility if a pedestrian is harmed by a scooter? Typical unclear thinking and planning. Drivers now fear hitting pedestrians and scooters! Pedestrians now fear being hit wherever! Great job CCC creating an enjoyable city with a bit of fear factor thrown in!
"NZ's luckiest woman? Aucklander wins lotto jackpot twice in just months",
Another promo plug for Lotto to entice people who dream to be a double winner too! Its possible right? Just got to dream...
Canterbury Lotto player scoops $5 million Powerball prize
The sceptic in me sees the third winner of Powerball on MyLotto being a managed way to get more people to bet through a more convenient and easy channel. Great advertising and promotion for more people to gamble the modern way. Awesome eh?
There really is depression in New Zealand
It seems to strike people in middle age because at that age you become aware of your mortality and start to question whats coming. You may have achieved much success in life but whats next? Inevitably all of us face the same end point. If you do not know where you are heading when you are fast approaching that end point it does become scary and you question whats the point in striving for stuff when it is all meaningless! Everyone has to search for meaning in life and the aim is to lead a life of significance. To know what happens when we die. It will be interesting to see the statistics of those who believe there is hope after death on earth compared to those who are agnostic or atheists.
"Lime scooters launch in New Zealand's two largest cities",
Had one zoom noiselessly and fast pass just missed hitting me on the footpath! The rider was grinning and obviously happy with his new toy. Not to sound mean but those pearly white teeth wont be there for long once he hits a rut or a wee pebble. I wait for CCC to show the stats on accidents - hopefully there will not be any fatalities among the stats.
Private prosecution pending against University of Otago's bong-taking proctor
This is a sad indictment of the present crazy world we live in. The people who are doing illegal activities become empowered to go after well meaning people. Yes the proctor should not have done it but it says a lot when the bongs are flagrantly flouted without any attempt to conceal them! Much of the Proctors focus is on working informally with students to help them meet the universitys behavioural expectations, and to help them avoid disciplinary processes or the attention of the criminal law.This approach is clearly not working and being taken adavantage of! this whole sorry mess will probably end with the proctor being charged and the students involved laughing, cheering and getting away with it scott free!
New $150m university building vote of confidence for central city
And they have just finished the roadworks along Tuam Street! Meanwhile, they are now meticulously laying beautifully neat bricks along Oxford Terrace - right next to where the new build will be! When the big trucks arrive and construction begins, Tuam Street and Oxford Terrace will likely be dug up again - more unnecessary costs and inconvenience. Great! Hurrah for all the coordination efforts!