Posts by Hebe
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Just thinking,
I reckon that should be feng sway these days.
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Sacha,
Yes; and silly old Lois Cairns in the Sunday Star-Times has taken the bait today hook line and sinker, as she always does. The SST is in a unique position to contribute to the Chch debate because it has the time to examine stories and distance to give it some objectivity, but it's not -- the same old interest groups are getting the column inches.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5441690/Is-Christchurch-worth-saving
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Hard News: London's Burning, in reply to Simon Grigg,
the rioters have this defence: they are just following the example set by senior and respected figures in society. Let’s bear in mind that many of the youths in our inner cities have never been trained in decent values. All they have ever known is barbarism. Our politicians and bankers, in sharp contrast, tend to have been to good schools and universities and to have been given every opportunity in life
Something has gone horribly wrong in Britain. If we are ever to confront the problems which have been exposed in the past week, it is essential to bear in mind that they do not only exist in inner-city housing estates.The culture of greed and impunity we are witnessing on our TV screens stretches right up into corporate boardrooms and the Cabinet. It embraces the police and large parts of our media. It is not just its damaged youth, but Britain itself that needs a moral reformation.
'Kin oath.Reading this and Russell Brand in the Guardian makes me wonder if anyone cannot see through the sanctimonious sods in Westminster.
Meanwhile John Key aims the gun on tonight's TV news at New Zealand's young underclass. Who advises the Key inner circle? Why the PR maestros Crosby Textor, who also have a Very Close Relationship with the UK's Conservatives.
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Emma Hart,
Wind tunnels too; Hereford St east of the Square used to be foul.
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Sacha,
Good link. As one of the commenters mentioned, the problem is the small market, 400,000 people spread out over a reasonably large area is big spend for a small market. BTW, the light rail idea came from the previous mayor Gary Moore, who repeatedly tried to put it up as a possibility. He's on the LTSA now; don't know if that will count for anything when it comes to funding decisions.
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Islander,
Hey we could do like 1981: rugby and riots all in one glorious package. Bugger, can't remember the chants though. We'll need senility flash cards for the bit after 2-4-6-8, we don't want your bloody quake...
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Islander,
Do we get riots too? As well as the World Cup; I can't wait. Been a while since I had a good protest.
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Sacha,
Sorry, not meaning to be confrontationalistic. The politics of the announcement were all show, again: Thursday release, in time for Key's Friday visit, so the Weekend Press can unpick it all, but not quite enough time for the journos and thinkers to do more than a once-over. So public, with limited attention span and a whole heap else to do in their lives, read the paper on Saturday, think "oh, not bad." and don't think they need to submit. Nothing to frighten the horses on the consultation path there. Chamber of Commerce boys meanwhile get lobbying the National Party on the height limits and various other impediments to the free market. Don't expect any big decisions from the Govt until after the election, then it will be that the rebuild plans are too expensive and too prescriptive.
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
Con-sultation.
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Sacha,
Why accept the CCC spin on the building heights? The public when con-sulted (hyphen intended) asked overwhelmingly for no higher than four storeys, preferably two. The CCC has extended that to seven over a reasonably large chunk of the central city. Analyse the height of the buildings in that area until September 4 and you will find many, many, many didn't even reach four storeys. So we're going to end up with a much higher rise city overall than has been.
That is not the city of low-rise, wooden buildings asked for. Look around and see what's being hurled up before building regs are made more stringent: more tilt-slab horrors. No doubt in shades of grey, wet tussock, dry tussock, damp sand and silt as specified by the latest Resene colour chart. (Which are all relations of beige, and which is why Christchurch people love them so. Aargh.)
I do like the river park, but Gerry Brownlee has already ruled out the suburban red zones along the river to the estuary being re-wilded so that's a major greening-the-city opportunity lost.
As for light rail, useless unless it becomes the main commuter transport for the Waimak, and Selwyn growth areas. The plan I saw only took it to Hornby and Papanui; why when Rolleston and environs are going to have explosive growth and the Rangiora/Kaiapoi area is currently a commuter nightmare. Half-a billion for what? The per-trip cost will be hideous.