Nor'West News: December 11, 2018
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
20 Tuesday <strong>December</strong> <strong>11</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />
<strong>News</strong><br />
Pump track<br />
likely for<br />
next year<br />
A NEW pump track for Shirley<br />
could be installed by mid-way<br />
through next year.<br />
At a meeting on Friday, the<br />
Papanui-Innes Community<br />
Board said it was working with<br />
the council’s parks team to<br />
discuss options to get the project<br />
over the line by the end of the<br />
current financial year.<br />
It was previously said that a<br />
decision on funding would not be<br />
made before the start of the council’s<br />
2021-2031 Long Term Plan.<br />
Papanui Ward board member<br />
Emma Norrish said they were<br />
also seeking support from<br />
community groups, given the<br />
benefits the park would have for<br />
Shirley residents.<br />
“With nothing planned in the<br />
next 10 years, it is the perfect opportunity<br />
to make it an appealing,<br />
usable community space.”<br />
By way of a petition, primary<br />
school pupils in Shirley asked<br />
the city council to install a pump<br />
track at the Shirley Community<br />
Reserve where they could ride<br />
their skateboards, scooters and<br />
bikes.<br />
The petition was started by<br />
pupil Shannon Smith and was<br />
presented to the Papanui-Innes<br />
Community Board in August.<br />
Reunion for freezing workers<br />
FORMER EMPLOYEES of the<br />
Canterbury Freezing Works,<br />
which opened on Belfast Rd in<br />
the late 1800s and shut down in<br />
2008, have reunited to celebrate<br />
the 10th anniversary of its<br />
closure.<br />
Around 200 ex-staff members<br />
met at The Bower hotel on November<br />
17 to exchange stories of<br />
their time at the freezing works<br />
and reconnect with old friends.<br />
Those who attended ranged<br />
in age, with some guests having<br />
started at the freezing works in<br />
the early 1950s.<br />
Loyal employee Hooch Fonotia<br />
(real name John) who organised<br />
the event, was a workhorse at the<br />
freezing works for 45 years, starting<br />
at the age of 18 and finishing<br />
the day the plant closed its doors<br />
for the last time.<br />
Mr Fonotia said his time at the<br />
plant had played a huge part in<br />
shaping who he is today and said<br />
the reunion brought back many<br />
fond memories.<br />
“The job always meant more to<br />
me than money.”<br />
“I made a hell of a lot of<br />
friends.”<br />
Mr Fonotia said: “It was a really<br />
good feeling to see all sorts of<br />
people, as many had gone their<br />
separate ways and not seen each<br />
other since the closure.”<br />
Guests celebrated with a slice<br />
of cake and were surprised by an<br />
appearance and speech by secretary<br />
of the New Zealand Meat<br />
Workers Union’s Canterbury<br />
branch Bill Watt.<br />
Mr Watt said the get-together<br />
was a great way to celebrate the<br />
history and people associated<br />
with a workplace that shaped<br />
Canterbury’s economic and social<br />
landscape for over 100 years.<br />
“It was a really good function.”<br />
Mr Watt said the event could<br />
have potentially been “the last<br />
hurrah” for some of freezing<br />
works longest-serving employees,<br />
making the event even more<br />
special.<br />
NOR’WEST NEWS<br />
Local<br />
<strong>News</strong><br />
Now<br />
REUNITED: (From left to right) – John (Hooch) Fonotia, Ross Blakley, Janine, and Graham Finiki<br />
were just some of over 200 former employees of the Canterbury Freezing Works who reunited<br />
for the 10th anniversary of its closure.<br />
Fire rages, homes at risk<br />
“There were some there that<br />
may not to be able to do it again.”<br />
Mr Watt said, in its day, the<br />
Canterbury Freezing Works was<br />
one of the biggest producers and<br />
exporters of lamb products in<br />
New Zealand.<br />
Its closure in 2008 led to the<br />
loss of 250 jobs.