The Star: February 22,

Supreme NewSpaper oF The Year National Award Winner Thursday, February 22, 2018 Our fee is from 1% min fee applies FULL SERVICE FREE APPRAISALS Call Debra Hakaraia 0275 620 420 03 384 8600 The best read and largest circulating newspaper in Christchurch POIGNANT: CTV Building survivor Maryanne Jackson says the new memorial at the site, which includes stones with her colleagues’ names on them, is a peaceful place to remember those lost. PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER Seven years on we remember • By Bridget Rutherford ON FEBRUARY 22 every year, families, friends and survivors meet at the CTV site to remember loved ones who were killed there. And today, on the seventh anniversary of the tragedy, they will have a newly-landscaped site to honour those who died. The site, on the corner of Madras and Cashel Sts, has been transformed into a peaceful memorial to honour the 115 people killed when the building collapsed during the February 2011 earthquake. Last night a blessing was scheduled to open it to the public. Maryanne Jackson was the only CTV employee who was in the building to get out when the magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck. She ran from her ground floor desk when the shaking started. The building collapsed behind her, claiming 16 of her colleagues. “It’s a day that we won’t forget. It’s etched in all our minds. Sometimes it feels just like yesterday and other times it feels like a long time ago.” Ms Jackson said the new memorial, which incorporates part of the building’s foundations, would be a nice place to visit and reflect. “The trees are beautiful, I think that’s lovely.” Part of the site is grassed and natives, flowers and cherry blossom trees are planted in the middle. •Turn to page 8 Water bottling companies won’t have to pay for city’s water • By Bridget Rutherford THE CITY council has no power to make bottling companies pay a levy for the millions of litres of water they take from Christchurch aquifers and export. The city council’s lawyers investigated if a special charge could be imposed on bottling companies so the money could be put back into Christchurch. But lawyers say the city council’s hands are tied. “We can’t charge a targeted water rate, because the legal purpose of such a rate is to pay for the cost of our pipe networks rather than the water itself,” the city council’s draft Long Term Plan said. Water bottling companies have to pay for a resource consent and ongoing operating costs, but not for the water itself. The issue is contentious. More than 80,000 people signed a petition to stop China-based Cloud Ocean Water being allowed to extract and bottle more than 1.5 billion litres a year from the former Kaputone Wool Scour in Belfast. “We’ve explored a targeted rate, but there’s nothing because we don’t provide the infrastructure for them. It’s very difficult to do that,” city councillor Vicki Buck said yesterday. •Turn to page 4 INVEST IN THE BEST *GE25 and GE35 indoor units start from a hushed 19dBA on their lowest fan speed. Accredited installers 10yr workmanship guarantee 5 yr warranty PRICED FROM $1,999.00 Call for a FREE Home consultation & quotation today! Ph 377 0034 15/114 Sawyers Arms Road www.dimockheatpumps.co.nz email: sales@dimocks.net.nz *Conditions apply. Installed back-to-back, up to three metre pipe run & electrical supply within 6 metres. Start your own story 03 348 1994 | www.peterrayhomes.co.nz