Bay Harbour: March 16, 2016
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PAGE 8 BAY HARBOUR<br />
Wednesday <strong>March</strong> <strong>16</strong> 20<strong>16</strong><br />
your local Views<br />
Something on your mind? Email bridget.rutherford@starmedia.kiwi in 150 words or less<br />
Facebook us on facebook.com/riseupchristchurch/<br />
Response to plans to repair<br />
the stone cottage on top of<br />
Sumner’s Cave Rock:<br />
Marie Stanley: Oh it is so<br />
important. It is after all an important<br />
part of being a Cantabrian.<br />
Yes, I know houses still need<br />
fixing, but it is equally important<br />
to save as much as possible<br />
the character and beginnings of<br />
this wonderful beautiful city.<br />
This is wonderful news.<br />
Response to the city council’s<br />
decision to temporarily ban<br />
freedom camping from French<br />
Farm, Wainui and Ferrymead’s<br />
Windsport Park:<br />
Ian N San, Hamilton: Well<br />
I live on the Peninsula and do<br />
freedom camp, to be fair folk<br />
that don’t freedom camp can<br />
be just as bad.....where we live<br />
at Kaituna Valley, folk dump<br />
rubbish all the time at Sunset<br />
point, and they are not freedom<br />
campers, just everyday people<br />
that can’t be bothered going to<br />
the dump!!<br />
Chris Mair: Some freedom<br />
campers abuse the freedom to<br />
camp places for nothing and<br />
use it as their own private toilet<br />
and dump. Happens in Australia<br />
too sad to say. As to how<br />
much money these particular<br />
tourists spend – err hello, they<br />
want somewhere to stay for<br />
nothing so I can’t see them<br />
being big spenders, like the<br />
ones in the park near home . .<br />
. could be wrong though (and<br />
could be right too).<br />
Gabrielle McDonagh:<br />
Ferrymead had turned into a<br />
toilet, great decision!<br />
Pamela Neil: Who is going to<br />
police it??<br />
Sally Bowring: So that is the<br />
catch-22 isn’t it? People don’t<br />
want them there, the council<br />
says “No” and then will be<br />
blamed for the extra money<br />
needed to police the site.<br />
Sam Caley: About time!!!<br />
How does freedom camping<br />
bring money into our economy<br />
when they aren’t paying to stay<br />
anywhere! Yet our taxes pay for<br />
the bins they fill, the grass they<br />
kill and it makes our parks look<br />
like rubbish dumps or public<br />
toilets! Get rid of freedom<br />
campers in the city!!<br />
Last week <strong>Bay</strong> <strong>Harbour</strong> News<br />
asked readers what they<br />
thought of the possibility of the<br />
Stewart family’s Port Levy bach<br />
being removed to make way<br />
for city council and Te Runanga<br />
O Koukourarata Society<br />
developments.<br />
Bruce Glennie, Church <strong>Bay</strong>:<br />
I think that it is grossly unfair<br />
to force the Stewart family to<br />
remove the bach, particularly<br />
when it occupies around 7 sq<br />
m of Te Runanga’s land. Such<br />
a small piece of land, a relative<br />
postage stamp would not make<br />
any difference to their ability<br />
to develop the land for new<br />
baches. The Stewart family have<br />
paid rates to the city council<br />
in good faith for over half a<br />
century, for what, for the council<br />
which gladly took their rates to<br />
now kick them off the land.<br />
As for Te Runanga O<br />
Koukourarata Society, how<br />
small-minded and selfish, they<br />
really know how to kick a<br />
family when they are down.<br />
Mary Wilkie: From reading<br />
this article and several others<br />
lately relating to the bach the<br />
Stewarts have owned for many<br />
years, the decision to insist this<br />
is demolished is quite without<br />
any real foundation as to who<br />
owns the land.<br />
Historically (without being<br />
racist) there were other peoples<br />
here for longer than the Maori,<br />
whom on a technicality, could<br />
be called settlers like the rest of<br />
us as their tenure is not in the<br />
thousands of years but rather<br />
several hundred. Does this make<br />
them the rightful owners of<br />
the land, if so, whom did they<br />
purchase it from? They just took<br />
over. Where does it give them<br />
the right to insist the city council<br />
act for their benefit alone.<br />
As I understand it there is really<br />
only a few metres of land in<br />
dispute. If the Stewarts reduce<br />
the size of their bach then a<br />
compromise would be reached<br />
which would be fair to all.<br />
Seventy-five years is a long time<br />
for a family to have enjoyed<br />
what the Maori claim should<br />
only be for them to enjoy. It just<br />
does not seem a fair resolution.<br />
A reader responds to<br />
comments in last week’s<br />
edition about Redcliffs School:<br />
Jean Cory-Wright,<br />
Redcliffs:<br />
I’d like to say well done to<br />
Emma Maguire Alldridge: The<br />
Redcliffs School debate is all<br />
smoke and mirrors. The Government<br />
is using an emotive issue<br />
such as child safety to hide the<br />
real agenda.<br />
The hidden agenda is a rationalisation<br />
of schools into mega<br />
schools and is probably money<br />
driven. The school site has been<br />
declared safe by experts. The<br />
school site is further away from<br />
a cliff than Sumner School<br />
is. Both schools are needed in<br />
this community. The idea of<br />
mega schools has been tested<br />
elsewhere in the world and it<br />
doesn’t work.<br />
With respect, the people who<br />
have been writing “safety first”<br />
in their emails may not know the<br />
full story and may not have read<br />
the details in the cliff report. I<br />
admire their concern for children<br />
but they are not helping the<br />
bigger case for the community.<br />
They could also be perceived as<br />
smoke screens using an emotive<br />
shout to cover the background<br />
political hidden agenda.<br />
So please, read the cliff report,<br />
and if you still think it’s unsafe,<br />
then lobby for the school to be<br />
moved to another Redcliffs site,<br />
so that it can continue to exist.<br />
At the moment your cries<br />
about safety are actually helping<br />
the minister close the school.<br />
I believe in the role that strong<br />
communities play, in the overall<br />
development of our young<br />
people. They feel valued in a<br />
small community.<br />
In a mega school everybody<br />
is a nobody. If they all grow up<br />
feeling under valued, they won’t<br />
cope very well with the bigger<br />
future challenges that will be<br />
thrown at us. This community is<br />
fantastic and it needs the support<br />
of us all! So please don’t be<br />
distracted by the smoke screens!<br />
I believe that the Redcliffs<br />
School site has been made safe<br />
and can be made even safer with<br />
a bund. Above this, whatever<br />
the decision about the school<br />
site, Redcliffs School needs to<br />
continue to exist somewhere in<br />
the Redcliffs area.<br />
A message from Redcliffs<br />
School principal:<br />
Kia ora everyone! My name<br />
is Rose McInerney and I am<br />
the new principal of Redcliffs<br />
School for 20<strong>16</strong>. It is a privilege<br />
and an honour to take over this<br />
role and I am very excited about<br />
leading a fantastic year of teaching<br />
and learning at Redcliffs<br />
School.<br />
I have been a teacher and then<br />
deputy principal here for about<br />
14 years and it is very special<br />
to become the principal at this<br />
important time. Our priority is<br />
giving the children an amazing<br />
20<strong>16</strong> no matter what. We<br />
have great learning programmes<br />
in place, a range of academic,<br />
music, cultural and sports<br />
programmes and a wonderful<br />
school production to look forward<br />
to later in the year.<br />
We are very thankful to our<br />
whole extended bays community<br />
for the support that you are giving<br />
in our campaign to return to<br />
Redcliffs. The whole community<br />
and all the local schools have<br />
been behind Redcliffs School<br />
supporting us every step of the<br />
way and your support has been<br />
felt and embraced. Thank you!<br />
At the moment the Redcliffs<br />
School board of trustees are<br />
working very hard on the final<br />
submission to send to the Minister<br />
of Education Hekia Parata.<br />
How you can help<br />
If you would like to help our<br />
school at the moment we are<br />
sending ‘Postcards to Parliament’<br />
over the next few weeks<br />
to remind our key politicians of<br />
these three strong messages.<br />
The scientific reports say that<br />
Redcliffs School is as safe as<br />
any school in New Zealand – so<br />
why does this Government want<br />
to close it? Zero submissions in<br />
favour of closure and 2700 in<br />
favour of Redcliffs School staying<br />
open. Redcliffs School is the heart<br />
of our community and we do not<br />
accept the Government’s reasons<br />
for closure.<br />
We have thousands of these<br />
postcards ready to post, if you<br />
would like a bundle please<br />
phone our school office or<br />
collect some from Redcliffs<br />
Pharmacy or Morgan and Page.<br />
We would like these postcards<br />
to be given to your friends all<br />
over NZ so that the Government<br />
realise that this is a nationwide<br />
issue and that every school in<br />
NZ has the chance of future<br />
disruption. It is freepost to<br />
Parliament and they are already<br />
addressed and ready to go.<br />
We also have a ‘Givealittle’<br />
fund to assist purely with the<br />
costs associated in the campaign<br />
to return our school to Redcliffs.<br />
You can either send in a cheque<br />
to the Redcliffs School office<br />
c/- Van Asch college Truro<br />
St, Sumner. Or you can go<br />
online to make a donation<br />
to givealittle.co.nz/cause/<br />
supportRedcliffsschool or phone<br />
our school office to talk to our<br />
office ladies on 384 3853 and<br />
they can help you further.<br />
Thank you again. It’s all for our<br />
kids!<br />
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