December Update

As some of you will have noticed the playground off Ti Rakau Drive is in the procees of being remodelled and is currently fenced off, the grass in the area is in a mess and is scheduled to be regrassed late summer. They expect the playground to reopen on 22nd December. It was not possible to go ahead with the planned Christmas Party this year..

We are now waiting for Gerry Brownlee to release the area wide land reports next week.
Also survey helicopters have been busy in our area. 

What happens if my property is TC3 (blue)?

Property owners in TC3 who need to carry out foundation repairs or house rebuilding will require site-specific geotechnical investigation and specific engineering foundation design.

The Department of Building and Housing is currently undertaking a research trial of foundation systems to test the feasibility and cost of innovation solutions for repairing or rebuilding foundations in Technical Category 3.

The trial is expected to be completed and internationally peer reviewed, with the results and available mid-December 2011. Updated guidance for repairing or rebuilding houses and design guidance in Technical Category 3 Is then expected to be issued by the end of February 2012.

Until these are available we may not be able to access those properties damaged deemed over the EQC cap for each event in TC3, as we will not know what repair options are available for foundation on this land.

Source:  NZI Earthquake Update November 2011

Green Zone Changes : What They Mean For You

If you missed the meeting in the area this video gives further explanation to the new green zones and explains more about TC1 TC2 and TC3 categories.
Click Here http://www.rebuildchristchurch.co.nz/blog/2011/11/cera-land-decisions---panel-discussion-video-explanation
Also http://cera.govt.nz/residential-green-zone-technical-categories

Q & A by CERA - Residential Green Zone Technical Categories

Answers to questions about residential green zone technical categories

The announcement of technical categories for foundation systems for residential properties in flat areas has prompted questions from Christchurch property owners.]

The technical categories – TC1 (grey), TC2 (yellow) and TC3 (blue) describe the foundation systems most likely to be required in the corresponding areas on the maps.  As this is an area wide classification, site specific geotech work will be required to determine the actual foundations required for each house in TC3 areas.  In some cases this will mean TC2 level foundations will be enough in TC3 areas based on actual ground tests.  This approach is common throughout New Zealand.

It is important to note that property owners only need to replace their foundations if their house needs to be rebuilt, or requires repairs to the foundations.  Otherwise, no further action is needed (until you undertake major renovations that affect your foundations).

Click here to read 17 Questions & Ansawers published in Saturday 12 November 2011 edition of The Press

CERA/EQC/DBH Combind Meeting Woolston, Ferrymead, Brookhaven - Blue TC3 properties

It appears there have been some glitches in CERA communications and not all residents have received letter advising of the following meetings with CERA, EQC & Department of Building & Housing

• Monday 14 November - Woolston Working Men's Club  - 6-8 pm
• Thursday 17 November - Woolston Working Men's Club - 11am - 1 pm

If you know people living in the area please tell them. URGENT tomorrow MONDAY first meeting

CERA Community Meeting Woolston

Ferrymead Brookhaven residents will have opportunity to attend Woolston community meeting's for property owners recently zoned green - organised by CERA

• Monday 14 November - Woolston Working Men's Club  - 6-8 pm
• Thursday 17 November - Woolston Working Men's Club - 11am - 1 pm

Source - letter fro CERA to residents dated 9 November 2011

Ruth Dyson at Ferrymead Brookhaven Meeting

RUTH DYSON: The local Brookhaven/Ferrymead Residents' Association called a meeting last night to discuss the new zone for the suburb - Green Blue Technical Category 3. We were fortunate to have the attendance of both Michelle Mitchell and Diane Turner from CERA, as well as Terry O'Leary from Cancern. Well over 500 people attended. Lots of questions arising from the material which was distributed from the CERA office, which I will be raising at the cross-party forum tomorrow.

The biggest question was how the decision was made that this land was ok to rebuild and immense frustration that the land report will not be released to the local residents.

• What assistance will be given to property owners for them to work together for area wide solutions?
•  How will it be physically possible to have an individual geotech report on each individual property, as is suggested in the statement from Minister Gerry Brownlee, that still might be needed ?
• If a rebuild on an individual section is not possible as determined by the geotech report, will EQC pay out on the land?
• What if the insurer says that they won't pay to rebuild there - will EQC pay out then?
• Can the green/blue land be rezoned red in the future, as was intimated by Diane Turner?
• Have the relevant land reports been handed over from Tonkin and Taylor to EQC and the Insurance Companies?
• Will people be able to get legal advice in relation to their options?

Lots of questions to which there were no answers. However, the CERA representatives did explain that the Residents' Association had set up this meeting in advance of the official CERA meeting with residents which will happen sometime soon (after the 14th November) and they promised to have all the relevant people available to answer the questions. The communication plan from CERA is woeful and has increased the frustration and distress for people who just deserve straight answers to straight questions about issues that have a huge impact on their lives.

Source http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1111/S00149/christchurch-earthquake-bulletin-editions-139-and-140.htm

Over 500 at CERA Brookhaven Ferrymead Meeting

Over 500 people attended which was ... wow. Most of the meeting the floor was passed to Cera who gave an outline on the background to the zone changes. A half hour Q&A also took place with people asking questions on things like ROW, EQC, Council, Property value fears, insurance issues and delays. Ruth Dyson also spoke on the human issues people face, a letter from David Carter was read and Cancern spoke at the end.

While there was a lot of background frustration evident both at Cera for the lack of detailed information to be suppled and at peoples situation the vast majority I spoke with afterwards felt they did come away better informed. For such a huge crowd of people in a scary situation everyone was very polite and respectful.

A show of hands on how many "believe" they are rebuilds was very revealing. Cera data was 20% rebuild, 20% repair and 60% no major damage. Hands on the night was probably 150-200 maybe. Well above that.

There will be letters to all from Cera outlining public meetings they will be holding very soon which will include Dept Housing, Insurance, Council, EQC etc.  Quoted with permission

FERRYMEAD BROOKHAVEN RESIDENTS COMMUNITY MEETING

CERA representatives and Ruth Dyson will attend

FERRYMEAD BROOKHAVEN RESIDENTS
COMMUNITY MEETING

MONDAY 7 NOVEMBER , 6:00 PM SHARP
(finish approx 7:30pm)

LOCATION: SAMOAN CHURCH (Mapusaga Fou), church hall, 9 Vili Place.
(This is off St Lukes Street, which is off St Johns Road, Woolston.
The church is the one that can be seen on the corner of Linwood Ave and DyersRoad).
Optional gold coin donation to offset expenses, tea & coffee, etc.

Residents have requested a community meeting specifically for our area. The purpose of the meeting is to update and inform residents about last Friday's land decision. Many of our residents were shocked and dismayed by the sudden announcement last Friday. It has been very challenging to come to terms with the way the message was delivered and the message itself. There was a widespread belief that most of Brookhaven would go red, due to area wide ground settlement caused by severe liquefaction. So naturally there are mixed emotions running throughout our community.

The meeting focus is to look to the future and understand the process and rationale of becoming Green/Blue TC3 and how we can move forward positively. Our residents should after the meeting be better informed about land, rebuilding and insurance issues. Our aim is provide relevant expertise on the night as a starting point to understand the process and the road ahead.

Speakers - Ruth Dyson has accepted an invitation to speak, David Carter is out of town but will send a message, CERA Geotech and a community liaison person will be there. Christchurch City Councillors Yani Johanson and Tim Carter will attend if their planning hearings finish early enough. EQC have been invited, but cannot attend, however we are sending them questions to answer and we will read them out at the meeting. We will also have local building industry people on hand to answer rebuild questions.

We also now have a Ferrymead Brookhaven Residents Association Blog
http://ferrymead-brookhaven.blogspot.com/ 

This has been set up to keep you informed of developments in our area.
This blog is linked to http://www.rebuildchristchurch.co.nz/ who now publish a link to all new postings. Big thanks to Margaret Copplestone for her expertise and motivation to get this underway.

You can also follow us through the Trademe Earthquake thread in the community notices. Best wishes to everyone.

David Stringer (Chairman) and Debra Ogier (Secretary)

Ferrymead Brookhaven Resident's Association
Enquiries to Dave 376 6136

Blue TC3 Land Zone Technical Category for Ferrymead Brookhaven

New Catergory for Green Zone - Technical Category 3 Blue

Click here to see full map for Christchurch

Technical Category 3 (blue): moderate to significant land damage from liquefaction is possible in future significant earthquakes. Foundation solutions should be based on site-specific geotechnical investigation and specific engineering foundation design where foundation repairs or rebuilds are needed. This might involve deep piles.

New foundation techniques are being trialled
The Department of Building and Housing is now testing a range of foundations for TC3 (blue) properties with results due by mid-December.

Some of the trial techniques have been used in roading but not previously for homes. However, they may be cheaper than sinking deep piles.

The department said updated guidance for repairing or rebuilding homes and design guidance for Technical Category 3 was due to be provided by the end of February 2012. Download this PDF

Ferrymead Brookhaven Goes GREEN

This from the CERA map today http://cera.govt.nz/static/land-zone-map/

Orange zone update due as frustration mounts

  The Government will give an update on the residential orange zone today amid growing frustration for homeowners.
  The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) announced yesterday that Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee and Cera chief executive Roger Sutton will deliver an update at 2.15pm.
It is unclear if the Government will make a final call on whether orange-zone properties will have to be abandoned or whether it will release a new timetable for decisions.
  However, media have been given 45 minutes to digest a technical report ahead of the announcement, increasing hopes that detailed decisions will be made.
  A Cera spokeswoman refused to comment to The Press yesterday. Brownlee did not return calls.
Spencerville homeowner Darla Hutt said she had been told by Cera on Tuesday that more information would be provided today.
  But Cera yesterday backed away from this statement, telling her only that an announcement would be made soon.
  "I'm just mad," she said. "Every time there is a delay I start not sleeping well."
About 9000 orange-zone properties remain in limbo eight months after the devastating February 22 earthquake, their owners waiting for the Government to decide whether their land should be abandoned or repaired.
  Already more than 6000 Christchurch and Waimakariri District homes have been classified red, meaning the Government will offer to buy their land, which has been deemed too badly damaged to repair.
  Thousands of orange-zone homes in Brooklands, Spencerville and Southshore were scheduled to be resolved in early September, but owners were asked to wait until at least early October.
Since then, they have been told at least twice to wait longer. Thousands more orange-zone homeowners in Parklands, Avonside and other quake-hit suburbs are expecting answers by Tuesday.
Brownlee again asked orange-zone homeowners for patience this month, saying that they would have more information in the next fortnight.
  Brooklands Residents' Association chairwoman Annette Buxton said people in Brooklands were worried about being left behind as red- zone homeowners accepted the Government's money and bought new homes.
  "We are wondering, how long do we have to wait?," she said.
  "People are fed up."
  Southshore resident Tim Sintes, who also sits on Burwood-Pegasus Community Board, said the seaside suburb was awash with rumours and the anxiety was getting worse as time wore on.
  "There is just no closure and we can't move on."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/5867132/Orange-zone-update-due-as-frustration-mounts

Announcement for Orange Zone Homeowners Friday 28th October at 2 pm

There will be an announcement for Orange Zone Homeowners from the Minister and CERA at 2 pm on Friday 28th October. This is subject to change at short notice.

Major Sewer Cave-in in Teal Close, Brookhaven

The ground has given way and temporary pipes are in place, one property has 2 1/2 metre deep whole. Repairs are expected to take 2 to 3 weeks. Teal Close backs on to Dyers Road where there are temporary speed restrictions in place.

Property Issuses Among the Rubble

Duncan Cotterill - Lawyers of Christchurch
have published a free downloadable booklet
"Property Issuses Among the Rubble"Click here to get your copy

Delay before orange-zoners get update

This article published in The Press 12 October says "Orange-zone Christchurch residents waiting to find out the fate of their land will have to wait another two weeks for their next update."
Click here to read more

Orange zone decisions are top priority

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has today convened meetings in the residential orange zone with geotechnical engineers and officials in order to get clarity around the myriad of complexities that need to be sorted before rezoning can occur. Click here to read more

Ferry Road / Main Road Corridor Community drop-in sessions

Ferry Road / Main Road corridor community drop-in sessions

The Council will be holding a series of community drop-in sessions for the project to gather issues, ideas and aspirations of the local community.

The Council is beginning with the area between the city (Fitzgerald Avenue) and Ferrymead bridge. The other portion of  Ferry Road / Main Road will be addressed at a later date.

http://resources.ccc.govt.nz/files/AllCommsStuff/FerryRoadMasterPlanMapWEB.pdf

Community Drop-In Sessions

Thursday 6 October 4:00pm to 8:00pm & Friday 7 October 12 noon to 3:00pm
St Johns Church Hall, Cnr Ferry Road & St Johns Street Woolston

http://www.ccc.govt.nz/thecouncil/policiesreportsstrategies/SuburbsRejuvenationProgramme/FerryRoadMainRoadCorridorWork.aspx

CERA letter to Ferrymead Brookhaven Residents Assn

Letter received by CERA on 9th August and reply received 17th Sept relating to expected timeframes for Brookhaven Subdivision in Ferrymead.....................

The time frame for decision on Brookhaven is 2-3 months. Land damage ranges from moderate to severe and the extent of infrastructure damage is yet to be determined, there more detailed assessment is required before a decision can be made ........................................

Click Here to read letter from Roger Sutton

Map of Ferrymead Brookhaven Orange Zone Area

This map is from CERA website, we have selected the portion showing our area.

http://cera.govt.nz/land-information/maps click on Port Hills and Brookhaven is at top right of picture - navigate to find other areas of Christchurch.

Update August/Sept

We have had numerous contacts with CERA senior staff since the letter from Roger Sutton to Orange Zone residents dated 01 August.  We wrote specifically to request clarification of our notification status.  His letter did not mention Brookhaven.  We also asked for feedback on our land in view of media reporting about area wide ground settlement for parts of Woolston and Ferrymead.  As many of you are aware on-going land mapping, aerial survey and sampling has taken place in and around Brookhaven since late March.  Roger Sutton's response is attached, please note, this was not received until 17th, Sept, even though it is dated 8 Sept.  We have a very good rapport with key staff in his office. We also have good contact within Tonkin and Taylor. We can assure residents that CERA has a clear understanding of our situation, yet it is apparent that there is a staging process for orange zone suburbs.  We understand people want answers and we have communicated concerns, frustrations and needs appropriately in good faith.

Update June/July 2011

Prior to the devastation of June13th, we had been earnestly trying to obtain a Ferrymead/Brookhaven community meeting where key people form CERA, Council and elected members could update us on progress, land issues etc since Feb 22. Sadly following the major June event and ongoing aftershocks sequence, it appears we will have to until perhaps early-mid-December for an area wide meeting.  During the difficult week that followed June 13th, we saw many people work tirelessly and unselfishly for the benefit of others.  We witnessed a great outpouring of Brookhaven community spirit to ensure shelter, food, water, clearing of silt, and necessities of life to our most vulnerable.  We felt alone and very much left to fend for ourselves. We eventually got support from church groups, Farmyarmy and some students.  Continue to be watchful for random minor opportunist thefts, particularly unlocked cars at night.

Welcome / Intro

After being in recess for 5 years the Ferrymead Brookhaven Residents Assn decided to hold a Family Fun Day at Ti Rakau Reserve near the playground on 21st May 2011.  What a great turnout, between 350-400 people came out for 4 hours of children's fun and entertainment. Bouncy castles, face painting, ice-creams, free sausages adn drinks, fun and laughter. Also a great chance for adults to mix and mingle with neighbours, we estimated over 90% were Brookhaven residents.  Many thanks for great support from Richard and Linda Payne, Ray from Kotuku (on the Barbie), Kim Stringer and the many fantastic residents who gave their time, contacts and support. The weather was picture perfect. We had very generous support from Winniebago's, Speights Alehouse and the Baptist Churches.  Thank you also to those great people who volunteered for the committee - we still have your names and details. We will be in touch.