Southern View: September 13, 2016

10
Tuesday September 13 2016
Your Local Views
SOUTHERN VIEW
Community grows stronger
in spite of school closure
Phillipstown
Community
Centre
Charitable Trust
trustee Wayne
Hawker writes
about how the tight-knit
community has rallied
following the closure of the
local school
Phillipstown is an eastern
suburb bounded by Fitzgerald
Ave, Ferry Rd, Aldwins Rd, and
Cashel St.
There are a couple of dairies
but otherwise no shopping
precinct. So the school, founded
in 1877, was always seen as the
heart of Phillipstown and the
mainstay for a very well-connected
and supported community.
For many years, Phillipstown
School had led initiatives aimed
at raising the wellbeing of its
whanau. For example, the school
reached out to, and got support
from, business partners from
all over Christchurch, with the
outcomes benefiting pupils and
families.
The school also worked very
closely with the Phillipstown
Neighbourhood Police Team,
which was established in late
2010.
Therefore, the closure of
Phillipstown School came as a
serious blow. This did not deter
Phillipstown as a community
and, as the saying goes, ‘when
the going gets tough, you roll up
your sleeves and dig yourself in’.
The community did just that.
One outcome of the long and
hard-fought campaign to save
the school was the community’s
increased awareness of the need
for its own gathering place if the
school were to close. And now,
like the phoenix rising from the
ashes, a new and connected community
has risen on the site of
the former school.
A multi-user hub with a
diverse number of community
organisations has emerged,
bringing a new focus and a new
beginning for the residents of
Phillipstown. But it’s also delivering
a new way of showing how
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to connect as a community. The
hub’s website www.phillipstown.
org.nz and Facebook page give
detailed information.
Christchurch as a city is
blessed to have such passionate,
dedicated community groups
working for the common good
of its residents. If we can learn
anything from this, it is that
connected communities will
help greater Christchurch rise
up from the devastating earthquakes.
The heart of the city is not just
the CBD; the heart that beats
for this city comes from the
communities and the people that
live within these communities.
Connected communities equal a
connected city.
FLAME FILES
Wild weather havoc
• By Mark Thomas – Fire Risk
Management Officer
JUST WHEN we were getting
used to warmer days and
shorter nights on Wednesday we
got reminded just how winter
could have been with a polar
blast sweeping through the city.
While there was a bit of hail,
a bit of wind and a lowering of
temperature before 2pm it was
from 4.35 pm on wards that
everything went off for our fire
crews.
Between then and 2am the
next morning we attended 37
incidents caused by the weather.
It wasn’t a great night to be
a tree with 18 of these being
uprooted right across the city,
interrupting power and blocking
roads.
There were also garden sheds,
trampolines, a car port, some
roofs and even a campervan
near Akaroa blown over or
away.
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A wild night that included
some impressive rain coming in
sideways where I live.
Hopefully, now we’ll cruise
towards summer with no more
winter blasts.
In fact we’ll probably be
moaning about nor’westers
soon.
Which means we need to be
careful with anything, including
barbecues, that might start fire.
Friday a week ago saw fire
in Bottle Lake Forest which is
always a concern.
Normally, we go to deliberately-lit
fires started by idiots who
seem to think it a good idea.
However, this time a loader
working at the landfill had a fuel
hose burst and diesel poured
over its electrics when then
shorted out.
The resulting fire was probably
quite a shock to the driver.
It was going well when St
Albans crew arrived but was
quickly extinguished.
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