Christchurch outskirt community told to move on

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Thu, 17 Nov 2011 6:12p.m.

The land was so bad that it has dropped almost a metre in places

The land was so bad that it has dropped almost a metre in places

By Hamish Clark

More than 400 quake damaged homes in Christchurch’s north east have been reclassified from orange to red.

It means the houses in Brooklands, on the outskirts of Christchurch, will be bought by the Government.

Les Griffiths has lived in Brooklands for 50 years and has been told he has to leave.

The whole community has been red zoned, meaning everyone will have to move out and find a new place to live.

It may look okay but Brooklands was profoundly hit in the September 4, 2010 earthquake.

Houses were cracked, twisted and knocked off their foundations.

Silt and water bubbled up from underground and the sewerage system was destroyed.

Cera boss Roger Sutton says many of these residents have been living in broken houses since September and have been anxious to get the information; “so we have made a decision now.”

The land was so bad that it has dropped almost a metre in places making it unsafe to live on and needs to be totally cleared.

“We had to be confident that should there be another event that would cause a disaster that this would be a safe place to occupy and I really couldn't answer that,” says Earthquake recovery minister Gerry Brownlee.

Brooklands residents will receive offers from the government to purchase all 417 properties and have two years to leave. But Les Griffiths says he is too old to start all over again.

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Comments

19 Nov 2011 11:56p.m.

jc wrote:

Maybe why this has gone red has nothing to do with the drop in land maybe it is that the prestons development needs the run off from storm water to go through the styx river greating more flooding problems for brooklands
so this could be a political decision ngai tahu & co. sacrifice the whole of brooklands for the very large subdivision of prestons DYOR.

19 Nov 2011 11:55p.m.

jc wrote:

Maybe why this has gone red has nothing to do with the drop in land maybe it is that the prestons development needs the run off from storm water to go through the styx river greating more flooding problems for brooklands
so this could be a political decision ngai tahu & co. sacrifice the whole of brooklands for the very large subdivison of prestons DYOR.

17 Nov 2011 10:51p.m.

JJ wrote:

What is of interest is that Brooklands was cleared to rebuild/repair just prior to the Feb quake and the majority of the area suffered little or no further damage in Feb and June. From what we have been told the area hasn't dropped as significantly as first thought as the original data was flawed. Start to wonder really what is the truth. Sadly, when the land has been fixed up and re-developed those that have lived and loved the area for many years won't be able to afford to return as it will be a yup-ville. Me, bitter? Hell yes...

17 Nov 2011 10:20p.m.

Ben wrote:

While its a great community lost going red is definatly the better option in the long run. Its not as if the land could have gone green with meter drops. But as for Gerry F-ing Brownlie nd EQC they must have now months ago that this land would go red nd instead of telling these residence, theyve spent the last 4+ months trying to find a way of making it green to save a little bit of their green as they have done in so many other places. Best of luck to the new red zoners

17 Nov 2011 07:39p.m.

M Roberts wrote:

People need to realise this is a whole community given the red card. It was a community with a unique semi-rural lifestyle close to the city but not really part of it.Fishing,outdoor activities and watersports on residents doorsteps were an integral part of this and we will not be compensated for this loss nor will we be able to find a similar location anywhere else, EQC must have known all along this area was going to go but they left us to wonder and hope for more than a year while others have been able to move on months ago. Now prices have moved upwards and many of us cant afford to purchase elsewhere, as for protecting our equity, Mr Brownlie. what utter crap!