Keep community in rebuild loop

POOR JOB ACKNOWLEDGED

Council is aware that there have been some issues with the resealing work carried out by our contractor at Bodmin Terrace and that the end result was not

WHEREWASMAINTENANCE?

Increased flooding in Porirua in recent years obviously has something to do with heavier downpours that come with global warning, however it appears that the Porirua Council’s Works Department no longer exists or has been severely downsized.

When flooding or drainage issues are reported to the council, a private company arrives to attend to the matter. Can part of the flooding issues be attributed to a lack of regular and preventative maintenance on our drainage systems especially when wet weather is forecast? Whatever the problems are they need more attention because things are

PLENTY OF SYMPATHY

It is of some concern that news readers, reporters and journalists can use inflammatory words when describing events of a Civil Defence magnitude.

We all sympathise with the public who are in a state of emergency who have lost family, belongings and businesses but it is morally inconsiderate for the general press to verbally instil fear in the public arena by the misuse of the English language.

Google ‘‘Richter Scale’’ to learn the magnitude of an earthquake. A 7.5 earthquake is not a ‘‘massive’’ event as reported on TV. It is a large or major event. Each full number on the Richter Scale is multiplied by a factor of 10.Newsreaders need to be up skilled in the vernacular they use when it comes to reporting seismic events.

Maureen Anderson

Pyes Pa

So far, the attempts at normalisation along the upper east coast of the South Island have followed a similar pattern to what happened in Christchurch - bursts of reconstruction punctuated by aftershocks and misgivings about the daunting scale of the rebuild.

As in Christchurch, normality for the likes of Kaikoura may take years to achieve, not weeks or months. As the immediate task of repairing and re-opening SH1 around Kaikoura begins, the configuration of rail, road and shipping likely to emerge in the longer term remains uncertain.

Reportedly, about 200 jobs were involved in providing and maintaining the pre-earthquake rail link between Lyttelton and Picton. After an initial flurry of comments by the likes of Prime Minister John Key and Transport Minister Simon Bridges, things have gone relatively quiet on the planning front.

Apparently, fixing the rail link between Seddon and Cheviot will be a longer, harder and more expensive task than the reopening of SH1, which will be difficult and costly enough.

Interim freight measures will probably involve a direct ferry link between the North Island and Christchurch. Last week, Kiwirail was busily constructing a business case to that effect.

Once implemented, interim measures have a tendency to harden into semi-permanent solutions. That new ferry link – if it happens – would displace some of the existing jobs in rail.

Among other things, a direct ferry link would also have an impact on Picton, a town that’s already been taking an economic hit from the demise of Solid Energy’s planned operations on the West Coast.

Inevitably, Kiwirail’s footprint in Picton would diminish, the longer the rail link between Lyttelton and Picton remains out of operation, or under-used.

Across Cook Strait, Kiwirail’s business is largely based on its freight operations, given how competitive Bluebridge is with respect to passenger traffic.

Any transport re-configuration that’s based – even temporarily - around a North Island to Lyttelton direct ferry link would have economic and employment repercussions across the region.

Presumably, more big trucks would also be running up and down the affected parts of SH1, to help pick up the slack. Some telling statements were issued in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. On November 15, Bridges confirmed that a direct North Island ferry link to Lyttelton was being investigated.

The previous day, Key’s ministerial statement appeared to include a firm commitment to the

‘‘That new ferry link – if it happens – would displace some of the existing jobs in rail.’’

restoration of the pre-existent road and rail links :’’We will repair our roads, rail, and other infrastructure, and we will help our affected communities… The financial cost will be significant but we will bear that.’’

Of course, Key also made similar ‘‘bear any burden/meet any cost’’’ noises in the wake of Pike River, and those commitments turned out to be a lot more nuanced and conditional than they’d seemed at first blush.

Given the impact the looming transport decisions will have upon jobs and businesses from Lyttelton to Cheviot to Kaikoura to Seddon to Picton, perhaps those communities should be being consulted right now by government about the options being contemplated.

Arguably, the public should not be presented with a fait accompli that’s been worked out behind closed doors in Wellington.