Road toll hits 13 in dreadful week
A rural Canterbury community is living proof that sometimes strength comes from adversity.
Eight years ago on September 4, residents across the region were shaken awake at 4.35am by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that destroyed homes, and left other buildings unusable.
The earthquake’s epicentre was just south-east of Darfield, about 40 kilometres west of Christchurch, and the neighbouring town of Hororata was one of the areas hardest hit. A number of buildings, including the stone St John’s Anglican church and Homebush, the ancestral homestead of Canterbury pioneers William and John Deans, were among those extensively damaged.
Homebush has been rebuilt, but the stone church, a significant local landmark, is still waiting to be repaired.
The lack of headway on the church has caused frustration within the community and the Hororata Community Trust, formed to help with the restoration, has turned its attention elsewhere – in particular staging events that are bringing thousands of visitors to the area.
Malvern Community Board member Karen Meares said the trust had decided to move on to other projects it knew it could advance.
‘‘Sometimes it gets to the stage when you’ve banged your head against the wall long enough.’’
Suzanne Price, recovery programme manager for the Anglican Church Property Trustees, said the organisation was reviewing the extent of repairs and costs of the stone church. It hoped to update both the parish and the Hororata community on progress soon.
St John’s vicar Jenni Carter said although some would be disappointed the church was still waiting to be repaired, there was more to focus on, such as community wellbeing.
The building held a special place in many people’s hearts and memories, she said, as it had hosted many weddings and christenings.
Few in the area still talked about the earthquake, Carter said. A lot had happened since – including strong winds, floods, heavy snow and fires – and people had just moved on with their lives. Community trust executive officer Cindy Driscoll said despite some tough times since the earthquake, the area’s sense of community and belief in its future was stronger than ever, underpinned by new events like the Hororata Highland Games and the Hororata Night Glow.
First held in 2011, the games now attract 10,000 people, 300 competitors, and a team of 200 volunteers every year.
Games committee member John Ballagh said the event had helped put the town back on the map, with local residents buying into it just as much as those from out of the area.
As the event’s popularity has grown, so too has the area’s community spirit, which had gone from strength to strength since the earthquake, he said. Money the trust raises from staging the events is re-invested in community initiatives. Selwyn MP Amy Adams, who lives only a few kilometres away from the earthquake’s epicentre, remembers being ripped from a deep sleep by the noise and the violence of the shaking.
‘‘I honestly thought the house was going to collapse.’’