Don’t penny pinch on Chch rebuild

Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, August 12th, 2011 - 23 comments
Categories: disaster, Gerry Brownlee - Tags:

Anyone else feel their heart freeze a little more when Brownlee labeled Christchurch’s rebuild plan “a pretty big wish list”? Here’s a once in generations chance to rebuild a city from the ground up. Going to cost tens of billions anyway. Why cheapskate by a few hundred million? Better to build a truly world-leading city designed for the future.

23 comments on “Don’t penny pinch on Chch rebuild ”

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  1. ropata 1
    12 August 2011 at 12:54 pm

    Brownlee has demonstrated this year that he’s not a Cantabrian at all. His allegiance is to money not people

  2. ghostwhowalksnz 2
    12 August 2011 at 1:02 pm

    An aquatic centre is a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity ?

    • Blighty 2.1
      12 August 2011 at 1:40 pm

      mate, you know it’s the rebuild that’s the opportunity. If they are willing to spend and think about the future they can create something great.

  3. jackal 3
    12 August 2011 at 1:31 pm

    Based on their recent failures , I don’t think we can trust National to undertake the Christchurch rebuild properly… Brownlee’s latest idiotic statement merely confirms that belief.

  4. vto 4
    12 August 2011 at 2:06 pm

    Ha ha ha. He’s useless.

  5. prism 5
    12 August 2011 at 2:34 pm

    What’s this $8M memorial? We are supposed to be hard up. A lovely building with a forecourt of beautiful hanging gardens and a statue by Sam Mahon would be good as a memorial to those killed and injured in the Christchurch earthquakes. It could be in front of another Town Hall. I think the last one was built with private money, so some of that could decrease the capital cost and allow some scholarships or some low-price performances each year for youngsters and their parents.

    Or a building for children’s and artistic interests as close to the east side as possible because many of those people who are still alive from there have had their happiness and security terminated.

    Or a sports and arts building with free music lessons, with a trust, with income paying for weekend camps for low decile children would be a lovely memorial. You could do a lot with $8M.

    National bust out with zeal for spending sometimes, away from their usual parsimonious attitude – I’m thinking of the plan to shift parliament buildings to another position some years back. This idea too could be just another expensive rush of blood to the head.

  6. eclectic 6
    12 August 2011 at 2:40 pm

    Why not just call it “New Canberra” ?

    Christchurch, Canberra, and Adelaide are products of the ‘Garden City’ movement.

    Search by ‘garden city’ in wikipedia.

    One thing in its favour would be survivability – if the earthquake gods leave it alone.

    If you can avoid the winter coal-fire smog, you would have a place to grow well-composted vegies.

    Mao Tse-tung would approve.

    • vto 6.1
      12 August 2011 at 3:07 pm

      We do grow well composted veges, and poorly composted veges. Some detail… re Canberra and Adelaide, sure they have the whole garden palava going on, but they catered for wider streets and long streets and still suburbs etc. This is really very compact in comparison being a mere 2.5 km x 2.0 km, so it is a bad comparison. Think about it, that is small. With all this $20 billion of stuff going on. The streets are narrow, not wide and the blocks are short. If the scale is friendly which it is …

      Just think, all you naysayers. I think you are losing the picture because you are not considering the detail and highly localised effects on the ground. Read it in detail and compare it to previous settings.

      That is provided the Council can make these things happen, by which I mean, build every one of these parks for your pocket, and cycleways, and wider Avon, and etc. One of the myriad tricks will be in actually constructing these things quick smart…

    • ghostwhowalksnz 6.2
      12 August 2011 at 6:49 pm

      Garden city ! Pleeese.

      Its been done before and is sooo boring

      What about a LA noir look ?

      Low rise ….. cars and highrise …. hemlines.

      Urban decay….. check, with some more deconstruction thrown in.

      Voila ….. the coolest place in the southern hemisphere

  7. godder 7
    12 August 2011 at 2:57 pm

    Is it was a wish list I am sure the first wish of every Cantabrian would be the removal of heir Brownlee.

    • insider 7.1
      12 August 2011 at 3:27 pm

      C’mon, if you are going to make Nazi dictator allusions, get the vernacular right – it’s ‘Herr’ Brownlee. Did you not read Commando comics? Englander pigdog!

      • ropata 7.1.1
        12 August 2011 at 5:54 pm

        Brownlee isn’t a comical villain. He’s a venal and lazy trougher whose carelessness allowed the chaos at CERA and the demolition mania to damage people’s livelihoods far more than was necessary

  8. ghostwhowalksnz 8
    12 August 2011 at 3:01 pm

    Brownlee is no Hausssman.

    More like Goring

  9. Bill 9
    12 August 2011 at 3:57 pm

    Isn’t the Christchurch recovery fundamentally all about penny pinching?

    Leaving the poeple in the east to rot while bailing out and relieving the insurance industrys of its obligations viz a viz replacement value insurance cover, for example?

    Or doing nothing to ensure that even the most basic ( though fairly costly) precautions are taken in light of the high prevalence of asbestos during demolition work and in the transportation/ dumping processes?

  10. Macro 10
    12 August 2011 at 5:46 pm

    “Isn’t the Christchurch recovery fundamentally all about penny pinching?”
    Not when it comes to paying your mates it’s not!

  11. Afewknwothetruth 11
    12 August 2011 at 6:12 pm

    ‘Better to build a truly world-leading city designed for the future.’

    Unfortunately what has been proposed is not a design for the actual future, which will be one of shortages of energy amd resources, shortages of food, rapid sea level rise and poplation die-off in big cities.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 11.1
      12 August 2011 at 6:37 pm

      Where do you get the tee shirt for that ?

      • Afewknwothetruth 11.1.1
        12 August 2011 at 10:25 pm

        ‘Where do you get the tee shirt for that ?’

        Try http://www.oicrash.com or lifeaftertheoilcrash or Postcarbon Institute etc.

        • Reality Bytes 11.1.1.1
          13 August 2011 at 8:13 pm

          I was reading an interesting article about how Antarctica is due to get fucked over for oil next. There’s an estimated 174 billion barrels in Antarctica, which would make it the fourth largest reserve (compared to other nations). And although NZ has claimed a large swath of Antarctic territory to protect from ever being exploited through such development (likewise Australia’s protection claim), there won’t be a damn thing we can do about it.

          NZ’s claim will be utterly ignored by the big greedy players (USA, China, Russia, etc).

          The last pristine place on earth will get raped in our lifetime by mankinds addiction to oil.

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