Selwyn Times: December 19, 2018

18 Thursday December 13 2018
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
The Star
News
Hampshire St: Transformed into
Hampshire St, Aranui,
has had a reputation
over the years as a
place you dare to tread.
But it is undergoing a
transformation. Julia
Evans reports
IN THE PAST it has been
labelled the most feared street in
the city.
Sirens, stabbings, sexual assaults,
fires, shootings, gangs,
murders, high unemployment
rates and low incomes have been
synonymous with Hampshire St
for the better part of its history.
A stark contrast to its namesake,
the area of Hampshire in
the United Kingdom, which has a
Christchurch city and Avon River
of its own.
Hampshire calls forth images
of a rolling English countryside
rather than the street police in
the 1990s would often refer to as
“The Reservation.”
Erina Staples has lived on and
around Hampshire St for 27 years
and said the area used to be
“really rough.”
She said there were fights often
between the Mongrel Mob and
Black Power gangs when the pub,
BANABA BANABA has lived
on Hampshire St for at least 20
years.
It could be 30.
“I’ve forgotten, I’ve had other
things on my mind.”
He’s spent the last eight years
in his modern brick unit after
moving from down the other
end of the street.
Mr Banaba had to move
after the February 22, 2011,
earthquake destroyed the
second storey of his home.
“You couldn’t use the
bathroom or go upstairs. I
like it here better anyway,” he
said.
“There aren’t as many people
doing wheelspins outside the
house here, its quieter.”
Originally from the Cook
Islands, Mr Banaba moved to
Auckland and lived in Porirua
with his brother.
He then moved down to
known as the Hampshire Hilton,
was open.
“It was terrible when the pub
was open . . . there were fights
outside and the kids would hang
outside and see it all,” she said.
HOME SWEET HOME: Banaba Banaba can’t say how long
he’s lived on Hampshire St, but he wouldn’t live anywhere
else.
Hampshire St and hasn’t left.
“I like it here. At my old
place the backyard was too
big to mow on my own,” Mr
But the Mongrel Mob and Black
Power haven’t been the only gangs
to be prominent in the area.
In the 70s, there was the Flagon
Wagon gang, and later the fully
patched Hampshires. They tried
Banaba said when The Star
visited.
Now he mows the front lawns
of most of his neighbours and
to rule the roost in the eastern
suburbs from their base in the
streets around Hampshire St.
But they weren’t always the
victor.
In the 1970s, surfers from the
said the area has a strong sense
of community.
“I like helping,” Mr Banaba
said.
He also liked playing darts
at the Eastern Eagles Rugby
League Club clubrooms.
“I stopped playing when I
reached the top. I said: ‘I’ve had
enough now’.”
Mr Banaba said Wainoni
Park was a great spot on
Hampshire St.
“When my grandkids come
over, I say go over to the park
and play. I can walk over with
them and watch,” he said.
However, Mr Banaba said he
knew there were gangs in the
area, but they mostly kept to
themselves.
“Black Power and the
Mongrel Mob, they don’t cause
any problems,” he said.
“It’s not as bad as people
think. People tell me it’s bad
but it’s not.”
New Brighton area took matters
into their own hands. About 20
in a convoy of cars headed to
Hampshire St after one of their
mates was jumped by the Flagon
Wagon gang the night before.
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Two years ago the RRP was about $119.90.
Scoop Purchase $ 64
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