Pegasus Post: June 25, 2019

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Tuesday June 25 2019 5
Local
News
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Fire rages, homes at risk
Landscaping completed
• By Matt Slaughter
RICHMOND Community
Garden teamed up with
conservation volunteers for
National Volunteer Week.
On Wednesday, 26 volunteers
completed landscaping and
planting around the Riverlution
community cafe and gathering
space beside the Avon-Ōtākaro
River.
This is a joint project between
Richmond Community Garden
and Greening The Rubble.
Richmond Community Garden
co-founder Cathy Allden
said its members had contributed
15,000 volunteer hours this
year, with about 15 people taking
in each volunteering session.
Ms Allden said Wednesday’s
planting day was a great way to
celebrate this.
Richmond Community
Garden were just some of the
volunteering groups, which were
honoured as part of national
volunteer week.
City council parks programmes
and Partnerships
manager Kate Russell said: “We
are very fortunate to have an
army of volunteers who help preserve
and restore our wonderful
green spaces for the benefit of
the wider community.”
PROJECT: Richmond Community Garden celebrated
national volunteering week by landscaping and planting
around the Riverlution community cafe and gathering space
beside the Avon-Ōtākaro River. ​
“However, we always welcome
more people who share a common
goal as we work to protect
our environment for generations
to come.
“Volunteers are an integral
part of our green space preservation
and regeneration. Without
those people, we would not
be able to carry out so much
valuable park work across the
region.”
Ms Russell said volunteers
have contributed more than
19,000 hours to their local
environments.
However, Ms Russell said the
necessary work far outweighs
the present resources.
“We have many projects under
way or in the pipeline that need
volunteer support,” she said.
Volunteers are working in
other areas including the Travis
Wetland South New Brighton,
Styx Mill, Charlesworth
Wetland and the Port Hills.
They are involved with
community gardens and
community art projects,
mountain-bike and walking
track maintenance and reserve
management.
•Volunteers, pages 8 & 10
SOLD: Opinions are divided over the old Central New Brighton
School site (also known as the Old School/Te Kura Tawhito)
being sold to Development Christchurch Ltd to be transformed
into a housing development. PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
Call to keep art hub
•From page 1
“There’s a need for an arts centre
in Brighton, there are so many
artists around, so that could be
part of it, to keep what we’ve got
and add housing to it.”
Art tutor Erika Isaksen,
who teaches at the
school said turning its
site into a housing development
was not the best
option.
“I think the school
does a lot of good for
the community and brings it
together.
“I would like to see the school
stay and be developed into more
thriving than it is now.”
Renew Brighton manages the
old school site.
Its manager Steve Jones-Pool
said its sale was to be expected.
Mr Jones-Pool was thankful
Sue Davidson
it had been opened for use as a
community hub for a few years
and that it could remain open
until early 2021.
Bin-Inn New Brighton owner
Nikki Griffin said she
understood both sides of
the debate.
“It will bring more
people into the area, so
if there are more people,
business grows. If there are
more people to support the
businesses it sort of goes a
wee bit of the way to bringing some
people back to the east.
“From a community perspective,
the work that Renew has done
down there is really really great,
it’s created a hub for people.”
Mrs Griffin agreed a housing
development, which kept the arts
and cultural elements available at
the old school would be best.