WorkSafe mum on quarry slip
The company that illegally operated a North Canterbury quarry where a man was killed in a rock fall was granted a lease to work on the site just over a year ago.
Quarry boss Murray George Taylor was killed when 1500 tonnes of rock and debris collapsed, burying him in the cab of his excavator on Monday.
His body was recovered on Wednesday. Quarrying experts and authorities criticised the operation, run by Heathstock Haulage. It operated illegally because Taylor, the company’s director, never held a certificate of competence.
The Hurunui District Council has come under scrutiny for agreeing to lease Taylor the land.
Council chief executive Hamish Dobbie said Heathstock Haulage had its current lease approved in March 2014. He declined to answer other questions about the lease while the WorkSafe investigation was ongoing.
Hurunui mayor Winton Dalley said when it was signed the lease contained clauses regarding Taylor’s responsibilities.
Prime Minister John Key said there was ‘‘no question’’ new safety guidelines for quarries were needed.
‘‘We are going to pass new legislation that will have an impact of improving health and safety standards right across New Zea- land from quarries frankly, corner dairies.’’
A WorkSafe NZ spokesman said inspectors were examining the site. He would not comment on initial inspections of the quarry or give a timeframe. ‘‘The way this quarry was operating is central to our investigation and so we cannot comment on this,’’ he said.
It was also unclear how long the quarry would be out of action, or if operations would continue.
The quarry operation was heavily criticised by Andrew Robertson, a former quarry inspector and manager with 50 years’ industry experience, who identified several fundamental flaws from photographs at the scene.
Taylor’s family released a statement yesterday thanking police ‘‘for their constant hard work and care throughout this difficult time’’ as well as those involved in the recovery effort.
to quite New Zealand’s future All Whites were bounding across blue and green turf in western Christchurch yesterday, enjoying the opening of the city’s newest sporting facility.
Prime Minister John Key opened the Christchurch Football Centre at its Yaldhurst Rd site in front of junior football players from 14 Canterbury schools, as well as guests including Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel and New Zealand Football chief executive Andy Martin.
The facility is the brainchild of Christchurch businessman and philanthropist Slava Meyn, who moved to Christchurch with his family from Russia in 2009.
Meyn was surprised by the lack of quality sporting venues in the city, which was exacerbated by the earthquakes, and decided to build a 20-hectare sports centre.
The football centre marks the first stage of its development. It includes two full-size artificial pitches with floodlights. It will host the secondary schools First XI Premiership, and Christ’s College, Rangi Ruru, and Universities FC will use the facility.
‘‘These fields are a really exciting beginning to our ultimate ambition,’’ Meyn said.
Construction would soon start on four mini-pitches, he said, two of them covered.
The centre is home to the Christchurch Football Academy, a not-for-profit charitable trust which provides year-round football programmes.
Quotable Value this week said values were flat in most parts of Christchurch due to an increased supply of new and repaired homes, but values rose on the Port Hills where the market is playing catchup. Rents in the city are also falling, according to government bond figures.
Real Estate Institute director Jim Davis said that although the number of Canterbury homes for sale had dropped with the arrival of winter, the overall supply increase had drawn more first home buyers into the market.
‘‘The market is balanced across the region with volumes steady and prices easing back slightly.’’
Also yesterday several of the big banks dropped their floating home loan rates in response to the Reserve Bank lowering its wholesale interest rate. The going floating rate for home loans is now about 6.5 per cent, and under 6 per cent for two-year terms.
The last two months have also seen bank home loan deposit rules relaxed outside of Auckland, and a boost to the KiwiSaver HomeStart grant.
The median time taken to sell a Canterbury property in May was 32 days, the institute said. Over the month, 945 homes sold in the region, 615 of them in Christchurch.
Prices were lower than a year ago in Rangiora and the West Coast, and higher in South Canterbury and Mid-Canterbury.
In Christchurch, the highest median price was $770,000 for the hill suburbs, and the lowest $293,500 in Linwood, Aranui, Bromley and Bexley.