Southern View: October 15, 2019

6 Tuesday October 15 2019
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
News
Views sought
on Woolston
playground plan
• By Jess Gibson
A HISTORIC Woolston
playground is getting a refresh.
The city council is seeking feedback
on a proposal for the Radley
Park playground until November
6. It was built at the park on
Woolston Cres in the mid-1980s.
The area used to be part of
Troutdale Farm, where Andrew
Mensal Johnson bred the first
brown trout in New Zealand.
The farm was a popular picnic
area until it closed in the early
1930s and a number of the original
trees remain at the park.
There is a plaque beside the
Heathcote River commemorating
Mr Johnson. The city council is
proposing to put in new swings, a
slide, carousel, see-saw and fishrocker.
Once the consultation period
has closed, the project team will
analyse the feedback and prepare
a report and recommendation for
the Linwood-Central-Heathcote
Community Board.
A decision from the board is
expected in April and, if the plan
is approved, construction is likely
to start in May or June.
•To have your say on the
planned playground, visit
ccc.govt.nz/the-council/
consultations-andsubmissions/haveyoursay
Cancer scare got Lorelei painting
• By Claire Booker
WHEN LORELEI Burdett
was waiting for the results
of a biopsy after a routine
mammogram, the possibility
of having breast cancer sent her
into emotional turmoil.
So she channelled her feelings
into creating art for a calendar
to raise money for the Breast
Cancer Foundation NZ.
“When I was waiting for my
results, I thought I can’t be sick,
I’m about to have a grandchild,”
Ms Burdett said. “So I decided I
would just paint and help people
get to know how I was feeling.”
The results came back clear,
much to Ms Burdett’s relief,
but she continued painting
and compiling artwork for the
calendar.
She developed a passion for art
when she was at high school in
Whakatane, and says painting
is not hard for her – she just
lets her feelings flow onto the
canvas.
Ms Burdett’s feature piece for
the calendar La Femme portrays
femininity and hope.
“It had to be beautiful and
feminine,” she said.
Family is an important part
of Ms Burdett’s life and the
inspiration behind her art,
which is mostly done using oil
paint.
“Every painting has a story,
people may not get it, but
they just have to use their
imagination,” she said.
Each painting generally takes
Ms Burdett about two days to
complete, depending on how
“hyped-up” she is about it.
Many of the pieces in the
calendar are colourful and
dedicated to members of her
family, including her late
husband Peter, who died in 2009
from pancreatic cancer.
‘This is not perfect, I’m
not perfect, but this is
through my eyes’
– Lorelei Burdett
After Peter died, she dedicated
a calendar to him and painted
SOUTHERN VIEW
ARTISTIC:
Lorelei
Burdett
painted La
Femme for
a calendar
to raise
money
for Breast
Cancer
Foundation
NZ.
PHOTO:
GEOFF
SLOAN
another one for the CD Kids
Hospital Appeal in 2017.
Ms Burdett said her art may
not be perfect, but that is part of
its beauty.
“This is not perfect, I’m not
perfect, but this is through my
eyes, and that’s how I like it,” she
said.
•To buy a calendar for
$20, email loreleiburdett@
hotmail.com