Southern View: February 26, 2019

SOUTHERN VIEW Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Tuesday February 26 2019 3
News
Local
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Community groups in online spat
Fire rages, homes at risk
• By Georgia O’Connor-Harding
A SPAT HAS broken out
between two Facebook
community pages in Halswell.
Resident Greig Russell has hit
out at the administrators of the
Halswell Community Group
page for being “ousted” from
the group of
nearly 11,000
members for
speaking his
mind.
He was
removed from
the page when
he posted a
Chrys Horn
mobile phone
number online.
Mr Russell since set up a new
page called Halswell Community
Page Uncensored with a
catchphrase of #LETSMAKE-
HALSWELLGREATAGAIN
“They ousted me out of the
community. Short of pitchforks
and tiki torches that is what they
have done,” he said.
Mr Russell was returning
home from a fishing trip in Greta
Valley when he came across a
group of men stranded due to
having a flat tyre. He lent the
men his spare wheel to enable
them to get home and got one of
their mobile numbers. Mr Russell
said the men had promised
to return the spare wheel the
next day, but nothing eventuated
and they would not return
his phone calls and blocked his
number. To pressure the man, he
asked members of the Halswell
Community Group to phone the
number and ask for the wheel’s
return. It was returned after
about a week.
But Halswell Community Project
chairwoman and one of the
administrators Chrys Horn said
it was harassment and would not
be tolerated.
“The trouble is people put up
stuff and they make allegations.
We have had quite a few times
that has happened and the poor
person on the receiving end has
no idea what was going on”.
But Mr Russell responded
saying it “absolutely” was not
harassment. He said he did
ARGUMENT:
Halswell
resident
Greig
Russell
said he
was ousted
out of the
Halswell
Community
Group
Facebook
page.
something about his wheel being
stolen and he got a result.
“Someone was trying to rip
me off. You put yourself in my
situation. You have got a phone
number that is all you have got.
What are you meant to do if they
block you?”
He said there is no consistency
in the Halswell Community
Group rules and if posts up not
up to their dictation they will
shut it down.
But Dr Horn said it is the
Halswell Community Project’s
page and it has clear rules people
need to follow.
“If people step outside those
and they don’t take no or an
answer then we block them and
that is just the way the world
works.
“Dr Horn said it is a large
group to monitor and because
the administrators have a lot
going on in their lives, they do
not always catch posts breaking
their rules right away. The group
has a wide range of policies
including group members being
unable to advertise businesses,
abuse or make racial comments,
complain about organisations
or make posts containing sexual
references or innuendo. On the
Halswell Community Page Uncensored
Mr Russell said as long
as people “keep it civil” they will
not get shut down.
Dr Horn said the group doesn’t
bare many grudges and she
would like to reinstate Mr Russell
when things settle down and
if the other administrators agree.
But she said several of the
administrators on the Halswell
Community Group have been
blocked from the Halswell
Community Page Uncensored.
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