The Star: July 05, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday July 5 2018 21
Opinion
Hospital parks on track
WHEN THE Government
announced we’d got the
long-delayed metro sports
facility back on track earlier
in the year, one of the positive
side effects was creating new
space for car parking near the
hospital.
With the land for the metro
sports facility acquired, we
now have space to add large
numbers of new car parks for
hospital staff on the site while
construction is going ahead.
I’m pleased to be able to
announce that the earthworks
needed to prepare the site for
parking have been completed
ahead of schedule. The
Canterbury District Health
Board is now in the process
of contacting staff on their
car parking waiting list and
getting the car park up and
running.
This will make a big
difference to hardworking
health professionals at the
site. And, combined with the
new park and ride service, it
will help take pressure off the
car parking situation at the
hospital.
The CDHB tells me these
parks will allow them to clear
the majority of their waiting
list for staff car parks.
These temporary parks are
expected to be available until
August 2019 – with some
available until March 2020.
Politics
Megan Woods
MAP: Additional car parks are being created for hospital
staff, as highlighted in blue on the map, at the metro
sports facility site on St Asaph St. ​
•Megan Woods is
the Minister of
Greater Christchurch
Regeneration
Mayor
Lianne Dalziel
Special visit by US students
LATER THIS month a group
of students from Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School
in Parkland, Florida, will arrive in
Christchurch.
This was the school that
experienced the devastating
shooting earlier this year when
17 of their fellow students and
teachers were killed.
The survivors have stepped into
leadership positions and become
advocates for change in their
country. The response by young
people across the United States has
been incredibly powerful.
Hundreds of thousands of
young people, many of whom will
be voting for the first time this
year, have become aware that if
they are to influence change they
need to stand up and be counted.
They have connected with our
own Student Volunteer Army,
through our honorary consul in
Florida, Nancy Gilbert, wife of
former ambassador Mark Gilbert.
They have organised a very full
programme, however, there are
three highlights for me. First,
they will start their city tour at
the memorial to 9/11, a tragedy
of unspeakable proportions, the
consequences of which continue
to reverberate around the world
today.
Second, they will visit the
gardens at Halswell Quarry
Park and plant 17 totara trees in
memory of those who were killed
at their school. Located alongside
our sister city gardens and
citizenship plantings, it will create
a special connection between us
and our shared experience of loss.
And finally, they will join the
Student Volunteer Army at a
leadership forum at Canterbury
University. Together they
exemplify what can happen
when young people in the wake
of disaster are determined to
redefine their future and control
their destiny. #NeverAgain
•If you want to ask Ms
Dalziel a question, email
mayor@ccc.govt.nz.
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