CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL - YOUR PEOPLE - YOUR CITY

Slow Down for Children

Slowing traffic to 40kmh outside schools would make the streets safer for our children, Christchurch City Council says in a proposal to the Land Transport Safety Authority.

The Council has asked the Authority for approval to trial 40kmh part-time speed limits near five schools, complete with flashing signs.“Statistically we have a good record when it comes to traffic safety near schools, however there is strong community concern about it and some children feel stressed about crossing roads to school,” says traffic engineer Brian Neill.The schools nominated are Branston Intermediate, Bishopdale School, Harewood School, Belfast School and Halswell School. Belfast and Halswell are on state highways and Transit NZ is supporting the Council’s proposal.The proposal includes putting up one of two possible signs which will help alert drivers to the fact they’re in a school zone. Both feature a flourescent yellow/green “school zone” sign. One also features an electronic flashing 40kmh sign, and the other features a non-flashing speed sign and alternating flashing yellow signal. The Council has put a lot of work into the proposal and if it gets the green light from the Authority early next year, extensive monitoring and research will be done to determine the trial’s effectiveness.“The aim is to improve driver behaviour around schools and to improve the safety and psychological wellbeing of our children,” says Brian Neill. “And by creating a safer road environment, the Council is aiming to encourage children to walk and cycle to school rather than be driven.”While the trial would involve only five schools, it would be tied in with campaigns to get drivers to slow down outside all schools.

RIGHT : Elsie Locke, writer for children

For more information about events at the Phillipstown Community Centre or to hire the venue, contact Shona through the Linwood Service Centre ph 389 1477.

Why does City Scene go to all letterboxes, including those with “No Circulars” signs?

The Council, like all public bodies, is required by law to tell residents what it is doing on their behalf with rates and user charges. City Scene now also includes some public notices, which were previously only published in newspapers, or were printed and delivered separately from City Scene at an increased cost. The Council is aware residents want to know what its Council is doing — but don’t always have time to find out that information themselves.

How does the Council know residents like City Scene?

It has had market research done. Once, at the beginning of 1997, and again this year. Further research will be done early next year. The research indicated City Scene is regarded as a good way to publicise and summarise Council activities, while advising people how to have their say in the activities.

Is City Scene competing with newspapers?

No, because it is a newsletter. It is published monthly and carries only Council-related information. Some of this information is important but not the sort of news the media are interested in covering.

Young people — needs in leisure, recreation, education, environment and entertainment.

This project aims to determine what is being done in the City, where there are gaps and what needs to be done for children from year 7 (F1) to 10 (F4).

You may be interested if:

• You are in this age group and wish to make your views known
• You are a parent or caregiver with children this age
• You work or provide services to this group.

Contact for information: Lyn Campbell, children’s advocate, Community Relations Unit, ph 941 8890. Your views are welcome by 30 November, 1998.

City Streets

1. Wilmer St, kerb and channel renewal — the Council has a commitment to renew the kerb, channel and footpath on the north side of Wilmer St.

• You own property in Wilmer St
• You operate a business in Wilmer St
• You use Wilmer St.

Contact for further information:Lyndsay Eagle, area engineer, City Streets Unit, ph 941 8294. Your views are welcome, preferably by 30 November, 1998.

2. Dallington Tce — the Council is committed to renewing the kerb, channel, footpath and berms on the residential side of Dallington Tce. There will be some realignment at the bend near properties 37 to 40 Dallington Tce, and there may be some change in kerb level.The work provides the opportunity to install traffic calming at the back entrance to St Paul’s School and the Gayhurst Rd intersection.

You may be interested if:

• You own property in Dallington Tce;
• You live in Dallington Tce;
• You have children who attend St Paul’s School.

Contact for further information: Lorraine Wilmshurst, area engineer, City Streets Unit, ph 389 1477.

Your views are welcome preferably by 30 November, 1998.

The range of opportunities and problems faced by our City’s heart and central business area cannot be solved by the Council acting alone — it requires the input of a broad range of people.

Suburban malls are here to stay, but at the same time we need a vibrant City to attract tourists and provide the focal point for our community.

As I write this the Forum has yet to meet, but the issues around what sort of central City we want, and how to get there, are being discussed in preparation for this important first step.

I want to extend a goodbye to Vicki Buck, a mayor of great talent who has given this City a tremendous legacy.

Christchurch City Council’s inaugural environmental awards have gone to Peacock Springs and Christ’s College.Peacock Springs, a private wildlife park in Harewood, won the “natural environment” section of the awards, and Christ’s College the “built environment” section.

An initiative of the Council’s environmental committee, the awards are to recognise outstanding contributions to the City’s environment and will be awarded annually.

Peacock Springs was created from spent shingle pits by the late Sir Neil Isaac and Diana, Lady Isaac.

It has become an internationally significant wetland bird habitat and breeding area.

In a bid to protect it from future commercial development, an historic conservation covenant against 247 hectares of land, including the park, has been registered.

It was praised by the awards panel (of Councillors and City representatives) for “its integration of a range of building designs in a place of learning, and its ongoing use of heritage buildings”.

Successive college boards and their architects have built a collection of significant buildings, from High Victorian Gothic to Arts and Craft, and from Georgian to Gothic.

• Resource consent submissions and applications
• Intrepretation of district and regional plans
• Preparation for hearings

The RMS is available by appointment on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. It is staffed by volunteers including Council planners, resource managment consultants and conservation officers, and resource management law students.The RMS also has a range of resources on the Resource Management Act 1991 and related legislation, available during CCLC office hours. And it can plan education and training events, such as submission writing.

For more information on the RMS, ph 366 6870.

ABOVE: Blossoms were out in all their splendour in Hagley Park this spring.

It is prudent to prepare now for a possible drought again this summer. If gardeners use water efficiently, there will be enough in the system to meet everyone’s needs.

The Council’s Water Services Unit has produced a booklet, How to Make Efficient Use of Water in Your Garden, which provides tips for efficient irrigation and conserving water.

RIGHT : Eileen Foote watches Ian Frazer install her new smoke alarm.

Construction of the new Christchurch Art Gallery information pavilion, on a site between Worcester Boulevard and Gloucester St, will be a milestone in the journey to the opening of the new gallery in 2003.

It will provide the public with up-to-date information on the development of the project.

The director of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Tony Preston, has gratefully acknowledged the generosity of Versatile Buildings in providing the purpose-built pavilion.

Over summer it will be open seven days a week from 11am, initially featuring a display on the history of the site. Later, visitors will see displays including the new Christchurch Art Gallery web-site; the launch of the on-site mural project involving Canterbury schools; the winning design from the architectural competition, and subsequent updates on design and building developments.

The pavilion will be staffed by the gallery’s public relations and marketing team, and volunteers drawn largely from the Friends of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery. It will be open to visitors from 26 November.

Recent work on Oxford Tce has enhanced Christchurch’s lively bar and restaurant scene. It was the first stage of a programme redeveloping the terrace towards Armagh St and involved widening and cobblestoning the footpath. The road is now single lane and one way from Lichfield St to Hereford St.

“I frequently receive complaints about the negative things a very small percentage of young people are associated with. My job is not about controlling young people. I am here to make sure their needs are considered and better catered for.

“Their contribution is largely ignored, but young people actually have a huge amount to offer, which needs to come through in positive rather than negative ways,” she says.Robyn comes to the job with a background in health promotion and administration, particularly in mental health. She has also taught all ages.

As Christchurch’s first youth advocate, her time since February has been largely spent planning — much of which has involved speaking to young people about what they think of living in the city. Last month, that included the North West Youth Summit, where she sat down to seek the views of 170 Christchurch teenagers.

“Some very specific feedback came through from the summit about the need to make skateboard facilities more challenging and the fact that coaches of youth sports teams are enthusiastic, but often not real experts. It should be relatively easy to do something about these issues, though it may be more difficult to address the more fundamental concerns of young people in Christchurch,” says Robyn.

For more information on youth policy and the work of the youth advocate, contact the Council’s advocacy team on 941 6406.

Recycling call answered

ABOVE : Telephone book “brickies” Murray Griffin (left), Arthur Williamson and Richard Lloyd.

Each year 20 houses could be built in Christchurch with old telephone directories.

The feasibility of creating the bricks will be investigated by the RMF and the people who came up with the idea — Waitaha Glass director Richard Lloyd, Thermocell director Professor Arthur Williamson and Sustainable Cities community development manager Murray Griffin.

Another winning suggestion, from Christchurch man Ken McAllister, was mixing the books with cement to make a plastering mix. Others included: using them as booster seats for children; using them to kneel on while gardening or for a flower press; and for making papier mache Christmas tree decorations.

The survey, believed to be the first of its kind in New Zealand, is being done for the Council by a local research company.Attitudes revealed so far are complex, but some clear points have emerged, including:

• Cyclists feel vulnerable on the road, which deters them from cycling.
• Cyclists feel motorists don’t respect them — and motorists feel cyclists don’t respect them!
• Some people think cycling is only for the superfit and healthy.
• Facilities and infrastructure for cycling, such as cycle lanes, safe parking for bikes and special crossings, need to continue to be developed.
• Employers should encourage employees to bike.
• People who are in the entrenched habit of using a particular mode of transport are unlikely to change.

The survey will be finished by the end of the year and the Council is already planning a campaign to engender attitude changes in favour of cycling.

In the meantime, cycling facilities are being improved all the time.

The first stages of work at Hospital Corner and near Shirley Boys’ High School and Marian College have been finished.

The work at Hospital Corner is intended to make cycling safer and easier through a number of intersections, while the work near the schools will mean students can bike on a path rather than the road. The Council is consulting closely with the schools and has asked local residents to identify problems for cyclists and pedestrians in this area.

The second stages are being designed and consulted upon now.

Recently developed by Christchurch City Council, and just opened at Bottle Lake Forest Park, is a BMX course featuring jumps, ramps and turns to bring out the best stunts and skills of any rider.

The Forest Park, an active outdoors-person’s dream, is on Waitikiri Drive and consists of 800 hectares of pine forest.

It has a network of tracks marked specially for walking/running and mountainbiking, and links with Waimairi Beach and Spencer Park.

Open to the public seven days a week, Rawhiti is an undulating, 18-hole course on Shaw Ave, only a wayward shot from the beach.

The green fees range from $8 (for nine holes mid-week) to $13 (18 holes at weekends and on public holidays). Student discounts and group bookings are available.

PICTURED LEFT: Golf professional Lynne-Marie Shasky gives regular Rawhiti player Pat Kara a few pointers on his swing.

Whatever your opinion, viewing an exhibition of 80 original works by Charles Frederick Goldie at Christchurch’s Robert McDougall Art Gallery is a rare opportunity.Goldie (1870-1947) is arguably New Zealand’s best-known artist.

The mystique surrounding him and his work is almost unparalleled in New Zealand art.The Goldie exhibition opens at the McDougall on Saturday, 12 December and runs until 7 March.

There is an admission charge for this exhibition — $7.50 for adults, $5 concession, $2.50 for children.

Goldie at the Easel, about 1908, from the Auckland Art Gallery collection.

So why not take advantage of the Council’s Helping Hand for Heating programme and add insulation to your house at reduced cost?

To be eligible for an insulation grant, you must have participated in the Council’s Clean Air programme, which means replacing an open fire or coal burner with a clean air approved appliance. You would then be eligible for further grants for making your home energy efficient.

Insulating usually involves installing material under the floor and in the ceiling. It can be done in a day.

“Insulation will help make your home healthier and more comfortable,” says Helping Hand for Heating administrator Mike Gaudin.

“It will also be cheaper to run long-term because heat will be retained. Heat your house, not the street!”For more information about the programme, which is funded through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), contact Mike Gaudin on 941 6433.

“It’s an opportunity to develop and share skills, make friends and improve the quality of community life,” says manager Ruth Gardner.

It may also lead to paid work. A survey of registered volunteers showed volunteer work was a vital first step towards paid employment for 28 per cent of respondents.

Contact CVC in Trust Bank Community House, Cashel St, ph 366 2442.

Fay (pictured front) and the Roulettes — who are “mostly over 50” — practise in Barrington Park.

They marched in an annual get-together of South Island leisure marching teams in Nelson last month. The national leisure marching get-together in the year 2000 will be held down the road from Barrington Park in the WestpacTrust Centre.

The store will open on 23 November and the Council-operated carpark before Christmas. The entrance for cars is on Oxford Tce and there are pedestrian accesses on Colombo, Armagh and Gloucester Sts.

The carpark will be open seven days a week over the Christmas period and after that, 7.30am-midnight Monday to Friday; 10am-midnight Saturday, and 10am-5pm Sunday.

The Formula Holden single seater cars contesting the series are the most technologically advanced open wheel racing cars in the southern hemisphere, according to MotorRace New Zealand. They weigh only 685kg, including the driver, and have a top speed of 260kmh.

The big field in the Council-supported event will boast top New Zealand, Australian and international talent.

For more information contact MotorRace NZ Ltd, Wellington, ph (04) 801 9559.

New Zealander Scott Dixon, 1998 Australian champion, will race at Ruapuna next month.

Keep an eye on your letterbox in mid-December for Christchurch’s own Summer Events magazine.

The free, 28-page colour magazine includes the full SummerTimes festival programme, details of events and activities at pools, parks and beaches near you, plus handy information on water conservation, recycling, skateboarding, dogs and more.

Christchurch Summer Events will be delivered to all households and will also be available from libraries and Council Service Centres throughout the summer months.