Canterbury’s year in review
2017 in Canterbury was a year of mixed fortunes – just like every other year. Martin van Beynen surveys highlights and low points.
The Port Hills fire is hard to go past as the most momentous event for Christchurch in 2017.
The threat it posed to the city’s residential areas and its scale and ferocity was unprecedented in New Zealand.
The fire, which started in Early Valley Rd in Halswell on February 13 raged out of control for three days, saving its worst for February 15 when most of the damage was done.
It claimed nine homes, damaged another five and ranged over 1660ha. Many hectares of regenerating native bush were destroyed.
Although no residents or firefighters were hurt by fire, helicopter pilot Steve Askin, a highly decorated former SAS soldier and father of two, died when his fire-fighting helicopter crashed near the Sugar Loaf communications mast.
A review released in November found flaws in the way the fire was managed by the controllers and pointed to failures to keep the public properly informed.
After the fire, in a move planned before the Christchurch fire, urban and rural firefighters from 38 different fire agencies were merged into Fire and Emergency New Zealand, a single agency operated under one piece of legislation.
The city was thankfully spared any further major disasters unless the continued presence of Ronnie van Hout’s Quasi sculpture on the roof of the Christchurch Art Gallery is counted.
The year also recorded some major advances on the rebuild/reopening front. The long awaited The Crossing development opened with key shops such as H&M and a Fresh Choice supermarket catering for central city dwellers welcoming their first customers.
Another tranche of new bars and restaurants were added to a city already well endowed with eateries and entertainment establishments.
The old centre of Christchurch nightlife in Oxford Terrace, known as the Strip, returned with new venues, brand new buildings and extensive landscaping and footpaths.
Slightly further west, the Arts Centre continued its progress towards a fully occupied and revamped facility. The Canterbury University music and classics departments moved in and the Canterbury Arts Festival announced its decision to base itself at the centre.
The ribbons were cut on the 200-room Crowne Plaza Hotel on the corner of Colombo and Armagh Sts and two public parking buildings opened in Hereford and Lichfield Sts.
The Justice and Emergency Precinct began life with its new court facilities first out of the blocks.
The year was marked once again by repairs on roads and underground infrastructure damaged by the 2011 earthquake but some significant advances were posted. Anyone using the airport would have appreciated the Memorial Arches overbridge opening and the northern bypasses took traffic on a new route into the city.
A massive engineering and road rebuilding feat was completed on State Highway 1 with the link between Christchurch and Picton through Kaiko¯ ura re-established on December 15 just in time for the Xmas holiday rush.
Given the scale of the damage and the extent of the land slides this reopening was extraordinary.
Two new schools in the area are also worthy of note in the highlights of 2017. Rolleston College will cater for the growing new town of Rolleston and surrounding areas and Haeata
Given the scale of the damage and the extent of the land slides, this reopening [of State Highway 1 north of Kaiko¯ ura] was extraordinary.
Community Campus in Aranui was Christchurch’s first urban area school. Unfortunately Haeata’s first year was marred by claims of violence at the school.
The Christchurch 2017 year recorded a major development in the tortured saga of the Christ Church Cathedral which has stood in the middle of Cathedral Square in its post-earthquake state for six years.
In September the Anglican Church’s governing body, the Synod, voted to restore the cathedral, conditional upon a multimillion-dollar funding package promised by the Government, Christchurch City Council and restoration advocates.
The Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Bill passed its third reading in Parliament on December 20 allowing the Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Megan Woods, to override heritage and planning laws.
Great Christchurch Buildings Trust (GCBT) has already pledged
$13.7 million in donations for the restoration and the Christchurch City Council approved a $10m grant for the restoration.
An interesting remaining issue is the fate of the Citizens’ War Memorial next to the Cathedral. The RSA has lobbied for the sculpture to be moved to Cranmer Square.
Government has promised a
$10m cash contribution and a $15m loan that will not have to be paid back if certain conditions are met.
The pledges, along with the church’s insurance proceeds of nearly $42m, amount to just over
$90m of the estimated $104m restoration cost.
St Bartholomew’s Church in Kaiapoi, North Canterbury, also welcomed parishioners for the first time after extensive earthquake repair work.
Although some major advances in city life were posted in 2017, the year was also marked some by some momentous decisions which meant things did not happen.
The Metro Sports Facility, which should have been finished and well underway in 2017, stalled when contractor Leigh Cockram Joint Venture pulled out of the process.
It meant parties went back to the drawing board by reverting to a more traditional practice of a design and plan being completed and tenders sought.
The completion date has been pushed out to early 2021 by Regeneration Minister Megan Woods and a review will look at whether the centre, or parts of it, could be combined with the multiuse arena, a $500m sports and event stadium to be built several blocks east.
The police also decided not to prosecute anyone over the CTV building collapse in the 2011 earthquake which killed 115 people. Relatives of some of those killed vowed to fight on until police changed their mind.
On the political front, the national election saw the old order restored in Christchurch. National MP Nicky Wagner lost Christchurch Central to new Labour candidate Duncan Webb, a former law professor who is one of Labour’s most promising rookies.
Otherwise the election went much as expected. Any hope that city councillor Raf Manji had of ascending to national politics was dashed by Gerry Brownlee’s showing in Ilam where Manji thought he had a chance of being elected as an independent.
The latest crop of councillors had an easier first year than their predecessors. They had no $900 million shortfall to plug or mega-insurance claim to settle. They still navigated some controversial issues.
The council’s $156m cycleways project continued to divide ratepayers – prompting criticism from business owners, but wideranging support from the public and cycling groups.
Ratepayers living near the Heathcote River claimed they had reached ‘‘crisis point’’ after the waterway burst its banks again in
The national election saw the old order restored in Christchurch. National MP Nicky Wagner lost Christchurch Central to new Labour candidate Duncan Webb.
2017.
In November, councillors agreed to implement a $72m programme to fix the problems with options including dredging, at a cost of $14.2m. Work on four new Upper Heathcote storage basins will continue at a cost of
$41m. A $16.5m plan to buy up to 35 homes at risk of frequent flooding was approved.
Like rust, crime never sleeps but 2017 was relatively noneventful.
The case which used most police resources in 2017 was Operation Renovation – the investigation into the disappearance of Christchurch man Michael McGrath. Police have now said McGrath is most likely dead.
A large team of police retrieved items from the Kate Valley Landfill after a person of interest in the inquiry was found to have dumped rubbish at a transfer station. The items will be tested next year.
There have been three murders in the region, including Bradley Lomax, a gang member whose body was found in Swannanoa in September, Pier Claudio Raviola, a
65-year-old was found beaten in a Sumner carpark in March, and mother Alicia Robinson, who killed in Avonhead in August. Arrests have been made in all cases.
The unlikely pub robber Doug Roake terrorised pub staff around Canterbury before being identified in a botched raid on a house. He robbed six pubs and shot two women eventually being jailed for
13 years.
A Christchurch bodybuilder and his friend were also charged with a $50 million methamphetamine importation from Mexico.
They were Michael Harrison-Cooper, 31, and Johnathon Seal, 25.
Ructions also occurred at Christchurch Prison where three senior managers were stood down pending the result of investigations.
Business-wise the year held bad news for Fletchers Construction which posted a disappointing profit not helped by a $100m loss on the Justice and Emergency Precinct in Christchurch.
A more positive story revolved around Synlait which was the outstanding South Island company of the year. It posted its best ever profit at $38.2m and announced a plan to build a $125 million factory south of Christchurch to supply Foodstuffs South Island with private-label fresh milk and cream from early 2019.
Negatives for the year included the collapse of Christchurch company Challenge Steel and the final closure of the General Cable facility in Hornby. They company once employed about 400 people.
On the sports front, the Crusaders returned to their winning form to claim the Super rugby crown with a brilliant win in South Africa against the Lions – 25-17. Canterbury also won the Mitre 10 Cup in a final against Tasman winning 35-13.
The same could not be said for Canterbury netball with the Mainland Tactix finishing bottom in the six-team ANZ Premiership, winning just two of their 15 games. New coach Marianne Delaney-Hoshek and new assistant coach Julie Seymour, a former Silver Ferns captain, promise better results next year with a new-look squad and different team culture. After a horror year, things can only get better.
The province’s cricket team, the Canterbury Kings, failed to reign this year in the Super Smash competition winning only five of its 11 games. The team made the semi-final of the T20 contest but crashed against the might of Wellington.
Canterbury’s men’s football team, Canterbury United, finished the year with improving results and a mid table position. Two goals in the final six minutes of extra time helped Auckland snatch a 3-2 victory over Canterbury United Pride, the province’s female football team, in the national final in December.
With Christchurch re-emerging as a cultural capital in 2017, music fans flocked to concerts by Lorde, Bruce Springsteen, Alison Moyet and Cat Stevens.
The Court had a run of successes with The Curious Tale of the Dog in the Night Time, Hudson and Halls Live and the musical Chicago.
Nick Gorman’s film Human Traces won well-deserved plaudits and notable exhibitions at the Christchurch Art Gallery included Bridget Riley’s ‘‘Spots and Stripes’’ and one of Wayne Youle’s sculptures
New Zealand Opera captivated audiences with performances of The Mikado and Carmen at the Isaac Theatre Royal which also hosted the Cirkopolis Cirque Eloize and New Zealand dance troupe Black Grace with As Night Falls.