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4 Tuesday <strong>December</strong> <strong>18</strong> 20<strong>18</strong><br />
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />
PEGASUS POST<br />
News<br />
Hampshire St: Transformed into<br />
Hampshire St in Aranui<br />
has had a reputation<br />
over the years as a<br />
place you dare to tread.<br />
But it is undergoing a<br />
transformation. Julia<br />
Evans reports<br />
IN THE PAST it has been<br />
labelled the most feared street in<br />
the city.<br />
Sirens, stabbings, sexual assaults,<br />
fires, shootings, gangs,<br />
murders, high unemployment<br />
rates and low incomes have been<br />
synonymous with Hampshire St<br />
for the better part of its history.<br />
A stark contrast to its namesake,<br />
the area of Hampshire in<br />
the United Kingdom, which has a<br />
Christchurch city and Avon River<br />
of its own.<br />
Hampshire calls forth images<br />
of a rolling English countryside<br />
rather than the street police in<br />
the 1990s would often refer to as<br />
“The Reservation.”<br />
Erina Staples has lived on and<br />
around Hampshire St for 27 years<br />
and said the area used to be<br />
“really rough.”<br />
She said there were fights often<br />
between the Mongrel Mob and<br />
Black Power gangs when the pub,<br />
BANABA BANABA has lived<br />
on Hampshire St for at least 20<br />
years.<br />
It could be 30.<br />
“I’ve forgotten, I’ve had other<br />
things on my mind.”<br />
He’s spent the last eight years<br />
in his modern brick unit after<br />
moving from down the other<br />
end of the street.<br />
Mr Banaba had to move<br />
after the February 22, 2011,<br />
earthquake destroyed the<br />
second storey of his home.<br />
“You couldn’t use the<br />
bathroom or go upstairs. I<br />
like it here better anyway,” he<br />
said.<br />
“There aren’t as many people<br />
doing wheelspins outside the<br />
house here, its quieter.”<br />
Originally from the Cook<br />
Islands, Mr Banaba moved to<br />
Auckland and lived in Porirua<br />
with his brother.<br />
He then moved down to<br />
known as the Hampshire Hilton,<br />
was open.<br />
“It was terrible when the pub<br />
was open . . . there were fights<br />
outside and the kids would hang<br />
outside and see it all,” she said.<br />
HOME SWEET HOME: Banaba Banaba can’t say how long he’s<br />
lived on Hampshire St, but he wouldn’t live anywhere else.<br />
Hampshire St and hasn’t left.<br />
“I like it here. At my old<br />
place the backyard was too<br />
big to mow on my own,” Mr<br />
But the Mongrel Mob and Black<br />
Power haven’t been the only gangs<br />
to be prominent in the area.<br />
In the 70s, there was the Flagon<br />
Wagon gang, and later the fully<br />
patched Hampshires. They tried<br />
Banaba said.<br />
Now he mows the front lawns<br />
of most of his neighbours and<br />
said the area has a strong sense<br />
to rule the roost in the eastern<br />
suburbs from their base in the<br />
streets around Hampshire St.<br />
But they weren’t always the<br />
victor.<br />
In the 1970s, surfers from the<br />
of community.<br />
“I like helping,” Mr Banaba<br />
said.<br />
He also liked playing darts<br />
at the Eastern Eagles Rugby<br />
League Club clubrooms.<br />
“I stopped playing when I<br />
reached the top. I said: ‘I’ve had<br />
enough now’.”<br />
Mr Banaba said Wainoni<br />
Park was a great spot on<br />
Hampshire St.<br />
“When my grandkids<br />
come over, I say go over to<br />
the park and play. I can walk<br />
over with them and watch,” he<br />
said.<br />
However, Mr Banaba said he<br />
knew there were gangs in the<br />
area, but they mostly kept to<br />
themselves.<br />
“Black Power and the<br />
Mongrel Mob, they don’t cause<br />
any problems,” he said.<br />
“It’s not as bad as people<br />
think. People tell me it’s bad<br />
but it’s not.”<br />
New Brighton area took matters<br />
into their own hands. About 20<br />
in a convoy of cars headed to<br />
Hampshire St after one of their<br />
mates was jumped by the Flagon<br />
Wagon gang the night before.<br />
Holiday Collection<br />
Dates 20<strong>18</strong><br />
From Tuesday 25 <strong>December</strong> and<br />
Tuesday 1 January 2019 wheelie bins will<br />
be collected the day after their usual<br />
collection day.<br />
Text<br />
206<br />
TUE WED THU FRI SAT<br />
• Monday collection as normal<br />
• Tuesday collections will be picked up on Wednesday<br />
• Wednesday collections will be picked up on Thursday<br />
• Thursday collections will be picked up on Friday<br />
• Friday collections will be picked up on Saturday<br />
Please ensure wheelie bins are placed at the kerbside<br />
by 6am on your deferred collection day.<br />
Help Us, Help Others<br />
Harcourts Holmwood has a positive and long-term commitment to<br />
the Christchurch community. This year we have taken another step up,<br />
with us not only contributing to the Mission’s ‘Walk of the Stars’ but<br />
also as a major sponsor to the City Mission Christmas Lunch.<br />
With one family in five finding the expense of Christmas too much<br />
of a burden, it is a privilege to be able to support this important<br />
event that hosts over 700 guests on Christmas Day.<br />
If you would also like to contribute we have set up a ‘Givealittle’<br />
page or you can simply text “donate” to 206 to make a $3 donation.<br />
RED<br />
GREEN<br />
YELLOW<br />
For more information, phone 03 941 8999<br />
or visit ccc.govt.nz<br />
givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/mission-christmas-lunch<br />
holmwood.co.nz