Pegasus Post: July 30, 2019

6 Tuesday July 30 2019
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
News
• By Matt Slaughter
DECISION-MAKERS are
conflicted about the best
solution to keep road-users
and pedestrians safe near the
entrance to KFC and the Z
service station on Shirley Rd.
The Papanui-Innes
Community Board is
concerned the right turn from
Shirley Rd into KFC is holding
up traffic and creating problems
for other road-users.
However, city council staff
say a possible solution raised by
the board to extend the traffic
island on Shirley Rd so it blocks
motorists from turning right
into KFC will encourage
more dangerous driving.
Said board member
Jo Byrne: “If you come
right from Marshland
Rd and swing around, if
someone’s waiting there
to go into KFC, that can
be a bit of an obstacle.”
Ms Byrne said the
board has asked city
council staff to consider
extending the traffic island.
But she said staff had analysed
traffic around the KFC and Z
and found some motorists are
already driving on the
wrong side of the road
for a short distance
after they exit KFC onto
Shirley Rd.
Extending the island
could exacerbate the
problem because
motorists who make
the illegal manoeuvre
would be forced to drive
further on the wrong
side of the road to reach the end
of the island.
“It should be a left turn,
but you know what driver
behaviour’s like, people just
decide they’re going to go the
other way and drive the wrong
way up the road,” Ms Byrne
said.
City council transport
planning and the delivery
manager Lynette Ellis said
many things had to be
considered before a decision is
made on the safest solution.
“This involves looking at past
statistics regarding crashes
Local
News
Now
Dangerous driving thwarts KFC entrance solution
Developing
a passion
for politics
•From page 1
“Before, I was like, really onesided
and now, I feel like I’m quite
open to like say: ‘Oh well, what
does this problem effect in this sector,
or what is the solution?’ It just
gave me a different view on how
other people see things.”
Te Rina said she had east
Christchurch in mind when voting
on the mock bill relating to using
sustainable energy.
“I was thinking about it and I
was like, what about my community,
the Christchurch east. I was
just considering what we’d been
through and how climate change
would affect my community and
then I decided to vote for the bill.”
After, school Te Rina said she
was planning to study engineering
at Canterbury University, but said
Youth Parliament had sparked her
inspiration for the job politicians do.
Te Rina was chosen as a Youth
MP by Christchurch East National
Party member Jo Hayes.
Te Rina said she had loved working
with Ms Hayes, who was now
one of the politicians she looked up
to most along with Jacinda Ardern.
Ms Hayes said the experience
had inspired Te Rina to start a
school debating team and spoke
highly of her passion for improving
low socio-economic areas.
Jo Byrne
• By Laura Hitchon
A NEW venture to help parents
of newborn babies save money
has opened in Christchurch.
The Canterbury Baby Clothing
Library in Spreydon operates
a clothing exchange system
where members can trade good
quality second-hand baby clothing
for other good quality second-hand
baby clothing items of
a similar nature. Library owner
Jacky Bakker said the library
system loosely worked on a likefor-like
exchange.
Ms Bakker said she came up
with the idea for the business after
buying some expensive baby
clothing for her grandson on an
overseas website and discovered
it was too small, but was unable
to exchange it.
“Babies are constantly growing,
so rather than people
throwing out their old baby
clothes and sending them to
landfill, why not exchange
them,” she said.
In addition to reducing
landfill, Ms Bakker hoped to
make shopping for baby clothes
more enjoyable, affordable and
less time-consuming for new
parents.
Customer and grandmotherto-be
Janice Belgrave said it
was easy to spend $35 on a new
outfit that only ended up being
worn once or twice. “It’s great if
parents are able to recycle and
reuse where possible,” she said.
Christchurch Parents Centre
president Yvette Cundy said a
lot of parents were surprised at
how quickly they went through
clothing and that selling them
online was a time-consuming
process. “The process of putting
items up on Trade Me, listing
everything and waiting for people
to collect the items, it’s just
too hard,” she said.
Ms Bakker said having a baby
was meant to be an enjoyable experience,
but people got caught
up with the image and expense
of it instead of savouring it.
“I get to make contact with
people at the happiest time of
their lives, which is just lovely,”
she said.
Rather than spending a heap
of money on baby clothing, Ms
Bakker believed people should
spend it on what matters, like
car seats, mattresses or good
shoes.
“You can still achieve a cool
look by shopping sensibly,” she
said. Ms Bakker said label clothing
and generic clothing were
treated exactly the same and
what mattered was the quality of
the garment.
“Clothing to be traded must
be free of holes and discolouration
and must have fully functioning
zips, domes and buttons.
“Hats, socks, singlets and
PEGASUS POST
Fire rages, homes at risk
and undertaking observations
of driver behaviour in the
area. When considering
past crashes, turning right
against traffic and crossing
multiple lanes is one of the
more risky actions that can be
undertaken by a driver. The
level of risk is heightened when
it is undertaken in the vicinity
of a major intersection,” she
said.
Ms Byrne said the board
will continue to work with city
council staff until the safest
option is found.
Save money by trading baby clothes
ECONOMICAL:
Canterbury Baby
Clothing Library
owner Jacky
Bakker offers
baby clothing
from premature
sizing through to
size 0. PHOTO:
LAURA HITCHON
most knitwear are not accepted
but can be donated by members
for other people to use.
“Premature and special occasion
clothing are also available
on request,” she said.
Ms Belgrave said she was
gifting a full membership to her
children and hoped it would
make things a little easier for
them.
“A membership to the baby
library would make an ideal
gift for a baby shower too,”
she said. Casual and full
memberships are available
and visits to the library are by
appointment only. Once the
clothing is exchanged, it’s the
customers to keep.”