Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 76

The Labour Party's Christchurch electorate MPs, Clayton Cosgrove (Waimakariri), Ruth Dyson (Port Hills), Lianne Dalziel (Christchurch East) and Brendon Burns (Christchurch Central) have started a regular bulletin to keep people in their electorates and media informed about what is happening at grass roots level.

CLAYTON COSGROVE: Kairaki Beach residents, who were promised all the geotech information that led to their community being red-zoned last month, have now apparently been told they are not going to receive the information after all. The promise was made at a meeting of residents by CERA chief executive Roger Sutton. Yesterday I said that I hoped the Government was not putting obstacles in the way of this release. Well, the residents have now been told they won't get the information because it may create complications in relation to other zones whose future has not yet been decided upon, and because the data has not yet been completed. This doesn't make sense, and is most unfair to residents whose lives have been turned upside down. Firstly, Kairaki Beach is a self-contained area, so information relating to Kairaki Beach can't possibly cause complications for other zones. Secondly, if the data hasn't been completed, why was the area red-zoned in the first place? Residents were told that it was on the basis of geotech information, but now they're wondering whether the decision was actually made on an arbitrary basis. These people and this community are being asked to leave their homes and lives behind. It's not good enough that the Government won't explain why.

RUTH DYSON: One of the most important things about the response and recovery following a tragic event is to learn the lessons - what happened and why, what worked and what didn't, and how can we do better in the future. The difference between the September and February quakes that turned it from a terrible event to a tragic event was the loss of lives and horrific injury to so many. Many people died in two buildings, the CTV building and the PGC, building and we will learn more about the reasons as the inquiries progress. But many others died when masonry fell from buildings. Some of those buildings had been badly damaged in the September quake and remained damaged and dangerous. The fences around some did not protect people. In some cases, the toppling building took the fence with it. This cannot be left as a possibility to be repeated. I strongly feel that the dangerous buildings that are still standing - particularly on streets where people frequently walk - must be dealt with urgently. I know that some time ago CERA gave 10 days' notice to some of the building owners to get their building down. Some are still standing. Tomorrow will see the retrieval of the books and historic records from the very badly damaged St Martins' library. I have been overwhelmed by offers of help in this job and am really heartened by the genuine commitment from so many people in helping the volunteers from the library save their books. I am also very appreciative of the very generous donation of storage space from the Hillview Christian School in St Martins. Our next challenge is to replace the damaged libraries with at least temporary operating facilities.

LIANNE DALZIEL: Today I am meeting representatives of the Kyoto University's Disaster Prevention Research Institute. They have an excellent set of presentations on relevant issues - especially the recovery effort in Kobe. Although I'm still in Japan I'm keeping a close eye on Christchurch. I've noticed concern being expressed about the percentage of people who believe that the government's offer is a good one, based on a TV3 poll. These polls should only poll those who are going to be on the receiving end of the offer The general public are buying the government's spin that this is a good deal for everyone except a few outliers. That isn't the case and the public should be told. In my latest update ( http://labour.org.nz/node/3882 ) I acknowledged there are people who will get a good deal out of the offer, but there are more who face a challenging decision. These are:

* People who bought their home when the market value exceeded the 2007 Rating Valuation. These people face the prospect of 'negative equity'.

* Homeowners who cannot buy property without borrowing and who cannot afford to service a mortgage or who do not meet lending criteria. The classic example is the elderly retired widow in a low value freehold home.

* Homeowners whose land component of their 2007 Rating Valuation does not represent the market value of an unimproved section and/or is insufficient to buy an equivalent sized section in the current market. In some suburbs the land values are very low even though the overall 2007 Capital Value is better than the 2010 market value would have been for the home. This is because of the way the land value is worked out when there is an existing house. I think the real issue here is the reality that the land component of the Rating Valuation was never intended for this use and bears no relationship to actual section values in 2007 or now.

* Homeowners whose properties have not been so damaged as to warrant a rebuild and whose insurers are only willing to fund the cost of repairs This is causing significant anxiety among homeowners, who have been told that their home is able to be repaired if they were not in the red zone, or whose insurer hasn't yet advised them of the assessment. These homeowners are asking why, if they cannot repair their house, someone will not meet the cost of a replacement home on a like for like basis.

BRENDON BURNS: I have always believed that the only way to get through the many challenges of the quakes is by working together. A group of Avonside residents living in and around Cowlishaw and Patten Streets have worked tirelessly for months to assist each other. They have a blog (http://www.avonsideblog.org), hold regular cottage meetings and are never shy of asking for answers. The residents group, affectionately known as CowPat, have recently been discussing the questions they would like to put to their various insurers and get answers. Here's just a handful of the very valid questions.

* Assessments in the Red Zone have become a matter of utmost importance for both parties. Will XYZ insurer allow full participation of the home-owners in the assessment?

* If a house has already been deemed uneconomic to repair will re-assessments be made and, if so, why?

* Will all issues identified be pointed out, described, and any significance explained, at the time of assessment? If not, when will they be?

* Will home-owners be permitted to submit their own list of issues, and will this be added to the inspection file and form part of the decision making process?
I never needed convincing that homeowners desperately require access to legal advice and assistance. Labour has been advocating this for many months. This week, Minister Brownlee has indicated it is being looked at. Let's hope it happens. It's now just CowPat which feels they are wading through effluent without any assistance.

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