The Star: April 22, 2021

Thursday, April 22, 2021 | starnews.co.nz | 93,000 circulation | Trusted for 152 years

Hector

returns

home after

30 months

– page 3

Heritage awards finalists

– page 14-15

Gonzalo gets his bike back pronto

REUNITED: Gonzalo Rodriguez had his stolen bike returned thanks to Facebook group Stolen Bikes Christchurch

and Canterbury and police efforts.

PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN

• By Matt Slaughter

GONZALO Rodriguez uses his

bike to get everywhere.

So, when the 23-year-old

student, originally from Chile,

found the $850 Trek mountain

bike had been stolen from

outside his Salisbury St home

between Friday night and Saturday

morning, he was very upset.

Rodriguez reported

the crime to police on

Saturday and posted it to

Facebook group Stolen Bikes

Christchurch and Canterbury,

which was set up by cycling

enthusiast Noel Andrew. It

has been joined by about 2000

members since being created

last year.

Social media worked.

Just hours after Rodriguez

posted about the theft, the

group’s eagle-eyed members

spotted the bike being sold

on sales platform Facebook

Marketplace. • Turn to page 7

Desperate

bid to save

cricketer’s

life recalled

by club

president

• By Chris Barclay

A RELIEVED cricket club

administrator has spoken for

the first time of the desperate

effort made by teammates and

paramedics to save the life of one

of his players.

Old Boys Collegians’ senior

team captain David Wakefield is

recovering in hospital after the

near death experience last month.

Club president Paul Knight told

The Star of the harrowing minutes

spent bringing Wakefield

back from the brink at Elmwood

Park after he suffered a major

cardiac arrest during fitness

drills.

“When I turned up it was just

so stark. It was the true fight or

flight. Guys couldn’t watch it, it

was just a weird sort of time, everyone

was so spaced out,” he said.

“There were 25 to 40 people just

sort of sitting there watching him

die. He was shirtless in front of us

and they were just pumping away

on him.”

Wakefield, 26, was doing

shuttle runs when he collapsed

on a damp March 11 evening.

The team thought he was taking

the mick, until they reached his

side.

• Turn to page 4

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2 The Star Thursday July 30 2020

2 The Star Thursday April 22 2021

inside

Bashed

Tributes

sportsman

flow after death

back training...............5

.................................. 5

Rowdy

Man fined

rooster

after

upsets

docking

neighbours........6-7

puppies ............ 7

City’s

New

most

hospital

deprived

child care

areas

initiative

revealed...

....................9

8-9

Tough

Bank to

tusk

stop

cash,

move

cheque

elephant.....................12

deposits ....10

Watching

New home

the

for

grass

Smiths

grow.......................18-19

City ......................... 15

Letters.......................................................................21,22

Return to Trump, pandemic ..............20-21

Mayor’s

Heritage

column......................................................22

in photos .............................................25

ECan

Check

column............................................................25

your shopping receipts .............. 27

Food...................................................................................26

Food .................................................................................28

Gardening....................................................................27

Gardening ................................................................ 29

Sport.........................................................................28-30

Sport ................................................................................. 31

Puzzles............................................................................32

Drivesouth .................................................................33

Drivesouth............................................................34-35

Puzzles ..........................................................................34

Classified...............................................................36-41

Classified ............................................................35-42

Gig

guide......................................................................

guide ...................................................................

newsroom

Louis Day Reporter

021 919 917

Matt louis.day@starmedia.kiwi

Slaughter Reporter

Matt

021

Slaughter

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Reporter

matt.slaughter@starmedia.kiwi

021 910 788

Chris matt.slaughter@starmedia.kiwi

Barclay Reporter

Chris

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Barclay

914 169

Reporter

chris.barclay@starmedia.kiwi

021 914 169

Barry chris.barclay@starmedia.kiwi

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Barry

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Clarke

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Thursday April 22 2021 The Star

• By Susan Sandys

ASHLEIGH ROSS can hardly

believe she has finally been

reunited with her beloved

moggy, Hector, after he went

missing two-and-a-half years

ago.

“He’s just so cuddly, it’s

almost like he’s been trying to

find us, he’s so glad to be home,”

Ross said.

Hector, the large green-eyed,

long-haired, steel-grey cat, was

returned to Ross and her family

after a resident living about 6km

away caught him in a cage last

week.

He had been missing since

November 2018 when he took

off from his home in Flemington,

Lincoln, on Guy

Fawkes night.

Ross said she and her

partner Sam had moved

into their house five weeks

earlier. They had planned to

keep Hector inside for another

three weeks before letting him

outside, but he escaped when

their young daughter opened a

door.

“And I think he may have got

spooked with all the fireworks,”

Ross said.

Much anguished searching

followed, as Ross walked surrounding

streets as early as

5.30am and as late as midnight,

shaking cat biscuits and calling

his name.

“Because I just couldn’t sleep,

he was my baby.”

Ross never gave up hope,

thinking if Hector was living

in the wild he would be able to

sustain himself as he had always

been a good hunter. She thought

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

University Hall cat uses last of his nine lives

• By Bea Gooding

EVER SINCE Campus the cat

meandered onto Canterbury

University Hall grounds nearly

20 years ago, he has since spent

his days soaking up the sun,

demanding the affection of

students and staff alike.

But he has now used up all of

his nine lives.

Campus was euthanised this

week after a bout of ill health.

All those years of stolen cuddles,

free food and providing comfort

to students during tough times

have finally caught up to him.

“Today, the tough decision

was made to put Campus the cat

down due to ill health,” residents

were told.

“Nearing 20-years-old, he had

a great life and was loved by staff

and thousands of residents over

the years.

“Campus will be put to rest

between the office and the

dining hall, where he loved to

lounge in the sun and await the

affection from residents as they

walk past.”

Over the years he was fed by

Hector home 30 months

after fireworks fright

HOME AT LAST: Hector

has been reunited with his

owner, Ashleigh Ross, after

two-and-a-half years.

the cleaners, and when he was

not sunbathing in his favourite

spot, he was making friends

in the dining hall, or he was in

the garage listening to the radio

from his makeshift bed.

His presence was so valued

that at one stage, the hall registered

him as a staff member.

A plaque is currently being

made and will be installed at his

final resting place.

•Do you have memories

of Campus? Email your

stories to bea.gooding@

starmedia.kiwi

PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN

maybe he was trying to make

his way back to the family’s

former home in Christchurch.

Ross continued to post on

Facebook pages intermittently

to remind people Hector was

missing, and had listed him on

lostpet.co.nz.

It was through the latter that

the woman who caught Hector

got in touch with Ross. She had

trapped Hector after noticing

him on her property eating cat

food.

Ross and her mother went

with their cat cage to the

woman’s house, near paddocks

in the Ellesmere Rd area.

Ross could not help but be

sceptical that it would be her

cat, but as she and her mother

walked towards the covered

cage, they heard Hector’s

distinctive meow. The woman

then removed the cover from

the cage.

“And there he was, I

couldn’t quite believe it,”

Ross said.

Now that Hector is

back home it’s like

he never left. He was

smooching up to his

old canine buddy Bear

and feline buddies

Jasper, Moses and Max,

as well as getting to

know his home’s new resident,

Ross and Sam’s nine-month-old

son.

Hector, now aged five, has

a case of matted fur and cat

conjunctivitis following his

adventures, Ross said. But other

than that, he was in top shape

and it seemed he had not lost

any weight.

NEWS 3

in brief

Shallow quake strikes

New Brighton

A 3.1-magnitude quake struck

near New Brighton at 3.21pm

yesterday. It was 4km deep and

felt across the central city.

Charges after alleged

playground assault

A woman has been charged

after an alleged assault on

another woman while families

looked on at the Margaret

Mahy Playground last month.

The victim suffered serious

injuries when she reportedly

hit her head on the concrete at

the popular Armagh St venue

during the incident on March

21. A 35-year-old woman,

believed to be known to the

victim, is scheduled to appear in

the district court on May 4 after

being charged with injuring

with intent to injure.

Work on new skate

park to start soon

Work on a new skate park in

Sumner should roll into gear

next summer after plans for the

Village Green were approved by

the Waikura/Linwood-Central-

Heathcote Community Board.

The skate park includes a 1.9m

deep pool bowl with an upper

1.2m deep mini bowl section,

a 1m to 1.2m flow bowl with a

corner extension, a turnaround

quarter pipe and an “across and

down” ledge.

Central city car

parks could go

The city council is considering

closing down more than 30

temporary car parks in central

Christchurch following a

clampdown. The owners of 95

off-street car parks were told

last December they have until

April 30 to cease operations or

apply for a resource consent.

By Tuesday, 31 owners had not

responded. There had been 15

consent applications received;

five owners said they would

stop operating. The crackdown

worried the Central City

Business Association, which

feared fewer car parks would

discourage residents from

heading into the city.

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The Star Thursday April 22 2021

NEWS

Aussie rocker

to play

Chch in May

AUSTRALIA’S HIGHEST selling

independent artist of all time,

John Butler, will perform in

Christchurch next month.

The Isaac

Theatre Royal gig

on Saturday, May

15, will be one of

two shows in New

Zealand. Butler

will be one of the

first international

performers to

John Butler

cross the border in 12 months

without needing to quarantine.

The tour announcement caps

an extraordinary few years for the

award-winning artist who was due

to headline the Bluesfest at Byron

Bay, Australia, last month before it

was ultimately cancelled due to a

Covid lockdown.

The John Butler Trio’s seventh

studio album Home debuted at No

1 on the ARIA Charts.

Asked how Home compares to

his previous work, Butler said: “It’s

just evolution; something I’ve been

thinking about and trying to create

for years.

“Have I mastered that moment?

Probably not, but that’s the journey

– you never quite master it. You’re

always headed towards the horizon,

but you never make it there.”

Tickets will go on sale on Friday

at www.johnbutlertrio.com.

• From page 1

“When they got to him they

realised something was amiss

and they jumped into it,” said

Knight.

A coach and two players

rendered initial assistance before

the first paramedic arrived six

minutes after the emergency call

was made.

“Thankfully two of them are

school teachers so they had the

recent training. They had the

peace of mind to go through the

correct procedure.”

‘He’s a tenacious little

bugger, he never backs

away from a fight, you

can sort of see that in

his recovery.’

– Paul Knight

The trio, said Knight, prefer to

keep a low public profile.

“They’re a little bit over being

called heroes and stuff. They’re

starting to get more grumpy

with it,” he explained.

Wakefield’s parents, Steve and

Helen, have also paid tribute to

the exemplary medical care their

son received.

Once admitted to Christchurch

Hospital, Wakefield spent

21 days in the intensive care unit,

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

Family hopeful of full recovery

followed by a fortnight in the

cardiology ward for surgery to

implant a defibrillator.

“We have been superimpressed

with the wonderful

care that he has received, which

has enabled him to make a

miraculous recovery,” they

wrote in a letter published in The

Press.

“David has more hard work to

achieve a full recovery, but we

are confident with excellent care

from CDHB staff that is achievable.”

Their gratitude extended to the

club, through the purchase of a

defibrillator to be close at hand

in the pavilion.

American-born Wakefield,

who represented the United

States at Twenty20 level in 2018,

is continuing his recovery in the

brain injury rehabilitation unit

at Burwood Hospital.

“He’s a tenacious little

bugger, he never backs away

from a fight, you can sort of see

that in his recovery,” Knight

said.

TENACIOUS: OBC

senior captain and

opening batsman

David Wakefield

(left) is recovering

from a major

heart attack. Club

president Paul

Knight (above)

described the

situation as ‘a true

fight.’

“Since he’s come out of the

coma, everything has been incremental

in terms of improvement.

He’s on the slow build back to a

hundred (per cent).”

There is no indication when

the opening batsman will return

to the middle, though he has

been out and about.

“He gets allowed out maybe

once a week,” Knight said.

“His girlfriend (Mollie Barrell)

graduated university last

weekend, he was there with all

the family.”

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After an ankle injury,

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Thursday April 22 2021 The Star

A TALENTED rugby player

who suffered head injuries

when knocked unconscious by

a Mongrel Mob member in the

central city is making a tentative

return to training.

Leni Taufateau is back jogging

at the Prebbleton Rugby Club, a

positive sign after he cracked his

head against a pavement on The

Terrace after being struck in an

unprovoked attack in the early

hours of January 31.

Taufateau moved from Tonga

to Christchurch in 2018 to take

up a rugby scholarship at St

Thomas of Canterbury College.

He subsequently represented

the Canterbury under-19 team

last year.

“He’s coming along not

too bad. It’s been a pretty

tough road for him,” said

Prebbleton division one coach

Dave Kettles.

“He’s coming down to training

now. He’s not participating

but he’s able to walk around and

jog around.

“The way the prognosis was

a while back, he was never

going to be able to play sport

again. He’s worked bloody hard

with his therapy and he’s doing

well.”

Kettles said it was too soon

to say if Taufateau, who is still

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

Return to training after savage blow

• By Chris Barclay

undergoing physical therapy,

would be able to play this season.

“I’ll leave that to the professionals.

When they say and if

they say we’ll look at it then.

Otherwise we’re just pleased to

have him in our group,” he said.

“He’s a character, it’s always

good to have him around.”

Taufateau came to Christchurch

alone and has had to

undertake his rehabilitation

without the support of family

members.

Fortunately fellow Tongan Etu

Sunia had taken him under his

wing.

“He does a lot for Rocky (Taufateau).

The club are good too.

They’ll pick him up and drop

him off for training.”

RECOVERY:

Leni

Taufateau

(left) has been

supported by

fellow Tongan

Etu Sunia as

he recovers

from being

attacked by

an unknown

member of

the Mongrel

Mob (above).

Taufateau had attended a 21st

birthday celebration before the

incident with a lone member of

the Mongrel Mob.

Gang members were in the

city as part of a South Island

excursion that weekend before

heading to Queenstown.

Security camera footage

captured the altercation, the

police investigation continues.

NEWS 5

Gang fight in

roadside park

stuns onlookers

RIVAL GANG members fought

out a mid-afternoon battle in a

roadside park at the weekend.

Shocked onlookers witnessed

the altercation between several

gang members when it broke out

in Rakaia about 3pm on Sunday.

Police have CCTV footage of

the fight taken from a security

camera in the township.

More details of the incident

would be released today, police

said yesterday.

A motorist told The Star he

was driving through Rakaia when

he saw a patched gang member

walk into the reserve. Soon after

others arrived and a fight broke

out.

“It was all on,” he said.

He did not stop because he had

his wife and young son in the car.

“Other people were pulling over

and watching. We decided to get

out of there,” he said.

Ashburton District Mayor

Neil Brown was unaware of the

incident but acknowledged gangs

had a presence in the area.

“There’s gang activity in the

Ashburton District but it’s not

very strong. I’ve heard there’s

four to five different types

(organisations). It may only be one

member [of each gang] keeping

an eye on things.”

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The Star Thursday April 22 2021

NEWS

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

Neighbours not impressed with

• By Kurt Bayer

A ROWDY urban rooster,

ruffling feathers with its daytime

crowing, has been told to pull its

neck in.

Babs has fallen foul of his

residential neighbours in North

Beach – and earned a visit from

council inspectors who have

warned his owner that “crowing

roosters are considered a noise

nuisance.”

Olivia Cook, a 24-year-old

part-time dispatcher who fosters

all sorts of animals, rescued

Babs and his sister Ginger –

named from the animated movie

Chicken Run – from across the

other side of the city last year as

tiny chicks.

Just a few centimetres tall, she

took them back to her North

Beach home and tried to keep

them warm and fed.

They lived in her bed,

snuggling on body heat.

An enclosure was also in

the bedroom but the baby

roosters preferred to cosy into

Cook.

Often she’d wake with them

sprawled across her face, on top

of her head, or nestled in the

crook of her neck.

Albie, a hulking ginger rescue

cat, also looked over them, and

could be left alone with the

chicks with no fears they would

be eaten.

But after about three months,

they were big enough to move

outside.

Cook says they hated the

transition and would run inside,

back to her bedroom, at every

given opportunity.

Slowly, they got used to it.

Their wings are not clipped but

they stay close. They have never

tried to escape.

They enjoy a large run down

the side of the house, shared

with two other rescue chooks

– Audrey and former battery

hen Chickalita, who rules the

roost – eating chick feed (wheat,

pellet and mash) and fruit and

vegetable scraps.

Some time after 7am, when

Cook lets Babs out of the hen

house, he crows to announce the

dawning of a new day.

He then crows sporadically

BOND:

Oliva Cook with

her pet rooster

Babs.

throughout the day. Parents and

children passing on the school

run spark him into action, along

with any visitors coming or

going.

“He’s like a guard dog,” says

Cook, a vegan who gives away

the chicken’s eggs.

owdy rooster

Otherwise, she describes

Babs as “pretty chill” and an

animal who has a gentle nature,

but a “huge personality”, and

often follows her around the

property.

“He’s pretty quiet except when

he crows,” she says.

“I can’t even hear him when

I’m inside. He’s a great guy to

have around.”

Her landlord lives next door

and doesn’t hear Babs. He’s also

a big fan.

“He thinks it’s true Kiwi living,”

says Cook, whose family

has lived there for 15 years.

The neighbourhood loves

Babs, Cook says, and people

often comment how they enjoy

hearing him crow.

“They all love him and think

it’s hilarious to hear him crowing

in the day and not just

at dawn – it’s just his way of

communicating. They find it

comforting.”

But last month, the city council

received a noise complaint

over Babs’ crowing.

The complaint came as a shock

to Cook, who thought visiting

council inspectors were Jehovah’s

Witnesses.

They asked if she had a rooster

and said that they had received a

complaint.

“I was like, what the hell?

What’s going on?” Cook says.

“I really panicked, worried

they would take him away. We

have a huge bond since I’ve

raised him since he was a chick,

and when you put in that much

effort, you develop a very close

bond.”

Cook had earlier worried that

neighbours might get upset at

Babs’ crowing but hadn’t realised

there were any issues.

She has bought him a velcro

collar for his neck, which helped

stifle his crows.

“As a result of our investigation

we spoke to the owners of

the rooster and advised them to

take measures to stop the rooster

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

FRIENDLY: A complaint has been laid over the rooster’s

crowing at a residential North Beach property.

PHOTOS: GEORGE HEARD

crowing,” city council head of

regulatory compliance, Tracey

Weston said.

“In urban residential areas,

crowing roosters are considered

a noise nuisance.”

Cook now keeps Babs inside

his enclosure a bit longer and

makes sure he’s not let out before

7am.

And he doesn’t crow late at

night – or make a racket between

10pm and 6am.

“I think we’re in the clear

now,” Cook says.

“I don’t want him to go anywhere

else. Babs is a very special

guy.”

– NZ Herald

• From page 1

He had about 150 Stolen Bikes

Christchurch and Canterbury

group members message him

about this.

Rodriguez contacted police

and they were able to track

down where the bike was using

information from the Facebook

Marketplace post and recover it

for him on Monday morning.

He is thankful for the help he

got from the stolen bike group’s

members and happy to be reunited

with his bike.

Said Rodriguez: “It was a nice

big help because I’m from Latin

America and that kind of thing

does not happen in my country.”

Between late February and the

end of March, 166 bikes with

a combined value of $250,000

were stolen across Christchurch,

according to police.

Andrew said Rodriguez’s bike

is just one of nine he knows

Stolen Bikes Christchurch and

Canterbury has helped to find

and return to their owners.

He said the group has been

an effective tool and has been

joined by some undercover

police officers, who also keep

Thursday April 22 2021 The Star

NEWS 7

‘That kind of thing

does not happen

in my country’

SUPPORT: Gonzalo

Rodriguez and Stolen

Bikes Christchurch and

Canterbury Facebook

group creator Noel

Andrew.

PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN

an eye out for the stolen bikes

posted.

Detective Sergeant Don Fisher

said it is often hard for police to

keep track of all stolen goods,

like bikes, being sold online, so

groups like this are beneficial for

assisting police.

“Police have to be in a position

to act on that information

immediately. If we’re able to do

that, we have lots of success with

a lot of inquiries.”

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The Star Thursday April 22 2021

NEWS

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

City’s most deprived areas revealed

• By Matt Slaughter

BURWOOD, Riccarton and

Spreydon have more people

living at the highest level of

socio-economic deprivation than

any other wards in Christchurch.

The data comes from profiles

completed by the city council’s

community support, governance

and partnerships unit for all of

the city’s wards, excluding the

Linwood, Central and Heathcote

wards. Profiles for the these areas

will be released next month.

But community leaders in the

most deprived wards say it is important

people look beyond the

statistics on paper and focus on

the great initiatives and groups

in the areas.

The deprivation scale ranges

from one to 10. One represents

those areas with the least deprivation

and 10 those with the

most. In the Burwood Ward,

which includes Aranui, Wainoni,

Bexley, Burwood, Avondale, Dallington,

Shirley East, Prestons,

Waitikiri and Travis Wetlands,

27 per cent of people live between

levels nine and 10 on the

scale of deprivation.

Aranui’s A-Town Boxing Gym

manager Jamie Roberts said

he understands there are some

people in the Burwood Ward

doing it tough and others whose

behaviour can damage people’s

perception of it.

The Burwood Ward, which includes Hampshire St in Aranui, has one of the highest levels of socioeconomic deprivation in

the city. (Right) - Initiatives like Jamie Roberts’ A-Town Boxing Gym in Aranui help alleviate deprivation in the ward.

PHOTOS: GEOFF SLOAN

However, he said great work

is being done through his gym,

which teaches people from sometimes

challenging backgrounds

to box and heads up other initiatives

in the ward.

“I think there are a lot of opportunities

out there for people

that want them – a lot of different

support groups, a lot of different

help groups,” Roberts said.

“Whether it’s through sport or

church, you know, I think there

are a lot of places to go, a lot of

things to do if you want to get off

your butt and do something.”

Dallington Residents Association

chairwoman and

Coastal -Burwood Community

Board member

Bebe Frayle agrees there

are challenges caused

by deprivation in the

Burwood Ward, but she

praised how the community

responds to these

challenges.

“Our [community

board] governance team

informs us that we have the

highest level of community

activity in terms of [residential

assistance] and other

community groups

across all the boards

in Christchurch. So I

think the response to

high deprivation is to

form groups and provide

support for each

other, and that’s what

our communities have

done.”

Frayle said the earthquakes

and loss of houses and

Bebe Frayle

schools in the Burwood Ward

have had a significant effect on

its demographics and landscape,

but this has presented rebuild

opportunities.

“I would honestly say that our

ward really has spent the last 10

years reeling from the impacts

of that [the earthquakes], which

has culminated in the removal of

all of those houses and all of the

people that go with it, and all of

the diversity of people that goes

with that, and I think, we are just

starting to recover from that.

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0800 838 2486

mptetaitonga@parliament.govt.nz

We honor and support our local heroes who fought for Ōtautahi/Christchurch.

Lest we Forget. Ka maumahara tonu Tātou i ā Rātou

0800 727 244

sarah.ilammp@parliament.govt.nz

03 382 0288

poto.williams.mp@parliament.govt.nz

03 338 6347 03 376 4512

megan.woodsmp@parliament.govt.nz tracey.mclellanmp@parliament.govt.nz

03 366 5519

chchcentral@parliament.govt.nz

Rino

Tirikatene

MP for Te Tai Tonga

Sarah

Pallett

MP for Ilam

Poto

Williams

MP for Christchurch East

Megan

Woods

MP for Wigram

Tracey

McLellan

MP for Banks Peninsula

Duncan

Webb

MP for Christchurch Central

Authorised by Hon Megan Woods MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

Thursday April 22 2021 The Star

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

in new socio-economic data

NEWS 9

“The former residential

red zone, which is now the

green spine, represents a huge

opportunity for suburbs to

rebuild in a

different way.”

Riccarton

has the second

highest

number of

people living at

the worst level

of deprivation

– 21.3 per cent.

Geoff

Ngataierua

Spreydon is

third with 19.5

per cent.

Riccarton Baptist Church

manager Geoff Ngataierua said

there are a number of younger

residents in the Riccarton Ward

on low incomes, including

migrant workers and university

students.

However,

Ngataierua

said the ward

has a great

community

with plenty of

groups like the

church that

support people

in need.

Cherylan

Davies

Cherylan

Davies,

manager of

Addington’s Manuka Cottage, a

community development agency

in the Spreydon Ward, said

the area has traditionally had

a number of residents on lower

incomes living in social housing

complexes.

She challenged the narrative

that it is deprived, saying the

recent growth of new housing

developments in the ward and

organisations like the cottage

help the diverse population.

By contrast, the percentage of

people living at the highest end

of deprivation in Halswell and

Banks Peninsula is zero, closely

Percentage of residents on

different levels of the scale

of deprivation by ward and

their median weekly rent

prices (1 represents areas

with the lowest deprivation

levels, 10 represents areas

with the highest)

•Spreydon Ward

9-10- 19.5 per cent

7-8- 21.2 per cent

5-6- 31.3 per cent

3-4- 21.5 per cent

1-2- 6.4 per cent

Median weekly rent – $330

•Burwood Ward

9-10- 27 per cent

7-8- 22.9 per cent

5-6- 12 per cent

3-4- 15 per cent

1-2- 23.1 per cent

Median weekly rent – $340

•Coastal Ward

9-10- 9.8 per cent

followed by Cashmere on 0.5

per cent. The factors used to

determine the wards’ deprivation

scores included the number

of people aged 18-64 receiving a

means tested benefit, those living

in households with incomes

below an income threshold, and

people with no access to the

internet at home.

Other factors were the number

of people aged 18-64 without

any qualifications, people aged

under 65 living in a single parent

7-8- 38.4 per cent

5-6- 24.5 per cent

3-4- 20.2 per cent

1-2- 7.1 per cent

Median weekly rent – $350

•Papanui Ward

9-10- 14.9 per cent

7-8- 20.3 per cent

5-6- 24.6 per cent

3-4- 24.7 per cent

1-2- 15.4 per cent

Median weekly rent – $350

•Cashmere Ward

9-10- 0.5 per cent

7-8- 5.8 per cent

5-6- 9.5 per cent

3-4- 32.1 per cent

1-2- 52 per cent

Median weekly rent – $380

•Fendalton Ward

9-10- 9.5 per cent

7-8- 6.5 per cent

5-6- 14.3 per cent

3-4- 26 per cent

1-2- 43.7 per cent

family, people not living in

their own home, those living in

households below a bedroom

occupancy threshold, people

aged 18-64 unemployed, and

those living in dwellings that

are always damp or always have

areas of mould bigger than an A4

sheet of paper.

The profiles released so far also

include information on median

rent prices across the wards.

The median rent is most

expensive in the Halswell Ward,

Median weekly rent – $370

•Hornby Ward

9-10- 13.6 per cent

7-8- 39.8 per cent

5-6- 27.1 per cent

3-4- 10.4 per cent

1-2- 9.1 per cent

Median weekly rent – $370

•Halswell Ward

9-10- 0 per cent

7-8- 3.7 per cent

5-6- 15.9 per cent

3-4- 22.8 per cent

1-2- 57.6 per cent

Median weekly rent – $450

•Riccarton Ward

9-10- 21.3 per cent

7-8- 43.4 per cent

5-6- 20.3 per cent

3-4- 10 per cent

1-2- 5.1 per cent

Median weekly rent – $380

•Harewood Ward

9-10- 3.5 per cent

7-8- 11.8 per cent

$450 a week. Waimairi is second

at $420 a week, Harewood is

third at $390 and Cashmere and

Riccarton are forth equal at $380

a week.

The median rent price across

all of Christchurch’s wards is

$350 a week.

The median weekly rent in

Spreydon is the cheapest of all

wards at $330. Burwood, Innes

and Banks Peninsula are close

runners up, all with median rent

costing $340 a week.

5-6- 23.2 per cent

3-4- 23.6 per cent

1-2- 37.9 per cent

Median weekly rent – $390

•Banks Peninsula Ward

9-10- 0 per cent

7-8- 2.2 per cent

5-6- 18.5 per cent

3-4- 45 .1 per cent

1-2- 34.2 per cent

Median weekly rent – $340

•Innes Ward

9-10- 13.6 per cent

7-8- 24.6 per cent

5-6- 29.3 per cent

3-4- 21.5 per cent

1-2- 11 per cent

Median weekly rent – $340

•Waimairi Ward

9-10- 1.2 per cent

7-8- 14.1 per cent

5-6- 31.2 per cent

3-4- 34.5 per cent

1-2- 19 per cent

Median weekly rent – $420

Woolston Brass presents

ANZAC Variety Concert

Celebrating 130 years, Christchurch’s

iconic Woolston Brass brings back the

popular ANZAC Variety Concert to

the Christchurch Town Hall after a

successful return in 2019.

Woolston Brass with Music Director

Tyme Marsters combined with

talented guest artists The New Zealand

Army Band and Music Director SSG

David Fiu, organist Martin Setchell

and the singing trio The Starlets will

commemorate the ANZAC spirit in a

special musical celebration at 2.00pm

on Sunday 25 April in the beautifully

restored Douglas Lilburn Auditorium

WOOLSTON BRASS PRESENTS

ANZAC

Variety Concert

Woolston Brass

Music Director Tyme Marsters

with guest artists

The New Zealand Army Band

Martin Setchell and The Starlets

in the Christchurch Town Hall.

Featuring a variety of favourites

from across the years and wartime

sing-a-longs, this concert salutes the

heritage of ANZAC Day with uplifting

patriotism and nostalgia. A concert the

whole family of any age will enjoy.

Join Woolston Brass and special

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Tickets available from Ticketek.

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advertorial

The Star Thursday April 22 2021

NEWS

THERE IS a dire need for rain in

parts of Canterbury.

A farmer says Government

support for the sector may soon

be essential.

The National Institute

of Water and Atmospheric

Research

said North

Canterbury

could be headed

for an official

drought and

farmers in Banks

Peninsula say it

hasn’t been this

dry in 30 years.

North Canterbury Rural Support

Trust chair Gayle Litchfield

told Newstalk ZB farmers are

now in their second year of dryness.

“It is very dry. Historically

Canterbury is quite dry during

the summer but last year was a

drought as well and there was

not enough recovery rain in the

winter so everyone’s gone into

this summer on the back foot,”

she said.

“Of course now we’re into

another dry and it’s just accumulating.”

It is also very dry in place

across most of the eastern North

Island, northeastern South

Island, as well as Otago and

eastern Southland.

It also shows extremely dry

conditions in North Canterbury

and eastern Otago.

Litchfield said the fate of winter

is sealed.

“It’s almost too late now, any

rain there is, there will be no

benefit seen until October which

is still six months away.

“It’s a long time to get through

on a daily basis.”

A need for Government support

is almost inevitable to help

farmers get through the winter,

she said.

“Farmers need help. They are

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

Farmers look for support

as drought looms

Gayle

Litchfield

PARCHED: Farms throughout Canterbury are in desperate

need of rain.

able to destock parts of herds

and stock but need to maintain

their core animal group so they

have something to continue

with.

“They just need assistance

around feed budgeting and access

to feed from other parts of

the country.”

Litchfield said she hopes a

drought is declared soon.

“That decision will come

from the minister, I believe

the procedures are in place.

Hopefully, it will be declared,

we just haven’t had confirmation

yet, it is definitely needed.”

– NZ Herald

CDHB members slam

health sector shake-up

• By Hugh Collins and Tim

Cronshaw

TWO CANTERBURY District

Health Board members have

criticised the Government’s

announcement yesterday that

all of the 20 DHBs will

be replaced by one, single

national health body.

It will be called Health

New Zealand and is part

of the biggest changes to

the country’s health care

system in history.

A new Māori Health

Authority will also be

set up, with the power to

commission health services

and monitor Māori

health, as well as developing

policy.

CDHB member James

Gough slammed the

changes, saying he is concerned

for how this will

look for the rural health

sector.

“Ranfurly isn’t Rolleston

and Auckland isn’t

Christchurch so having

that local understanding of the

needs of the community, I think,

is really important,” he said.

“It’s a one-size-fits-all approach

and they generally don’t

work.”

James

Gough

Aaron

Keown

Gough said he does not believe

this is the way forward for the

public system.

“The changes we are seeing or

what has been proposed seems

incredibly costly, radical, and

not founded on good advice but

potentially damaging to

the communities we are

trying to protect.”

CDHB member

Aaron Keown said

he is surprised by the

announcement.

“I’m surprised they

went this far with the

changes. There were

definitely changes that

were needed, are they the

ones they’ve gone for?

Probably not.

“Canterbury will

always have a strong

voice but it’s the smaller

districts in the smaller

areas who will be told

what will happen to their

services, they won’t have

a say.”

Keown said he

remembers when

National did something similar

and it didn’t stack up financially.

“It didn’t work. I don’t know if

this will get us the gains they are

after.”

- NZ Herald

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The Star Thursday April 22 2021

NEWS

Possible serial

flasher seen

lurking in park

• By Devon Bolger

POLICE ARE investigating

a possible serial flasher near

Spencer Park.

Nik Croxson said she was on a

walk when she was approached

by a woman in a car.

“She stopped next to me to

warn me she had seen a naked

man and that I might want to

walk a different track,” Croxson

said.

“She was calling the police

while we spoke.

“She said she had been

walking a forest track near the

beach when she saw a man who

was naked and masturbating up

near the sand dunes.”

A police spokeswoman said

they received a report after the

man was spotted near Spencer

Park on Sunday.

“We spoke about there being

quite a few families and people

at the beach, given it was such

a warm day. That was quite

concerning. There was no phone

service where she saw him so she

had to head back to her car and

call the police,” Croxson said.

Police are asking anyone who

may have information about the

incident to call 105, quoting file

number 210418/5795.

-NZ Herald

• By Matt Slaughter

IT IS HOPED Canterbury

Museum’s redevelopment will

remove an elephant in the room

which has been held captive since

the 1960s.

In a cramped corner of one of

the museum’s storerooms is a

taxidermied elephant, weighing

in at about 540kg. But it is so big,

it has become stuck.

Canterbury Museum senior

curator of natural history Dr

Paul Scofield said the elephant

was first displayed in 1878 and

put in storage in the early 1960s.

Modifications to the storeroom

some years ago mean it can not

be moved without removing the

roof or the floor of the attic it is

in.

Said Scofield: “The museum’s

elephant has suffered greatly

from the ravages of time. It has

been in storage since the early

1960s. In the late 1960s, a family

of possums got into its storeroom

through a hole in the roof and

tore a hole in the elephant’s

straw-filled stomach to make

their nest.”

The February 22, 2011,

earthquake nearly destroyed the

elephant, but its frame has been

reinforced and it is awaiting

restoration.

It is hoped it will be once again

put on display if the museum’s

redevelopment proposal receives

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

Tough tusk to move elephant

HUGE: Paul Scofield with the elephant which has been stuck in a Canterbury Museum

storage room since the 1960s.

PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN

resource consent. The elephant

was brought to Christchurch by

museum founder Julius Haast,

who purchased its treated skin

with funds he made by selling

moa bones.

In 1877, Haast employed the

famed Austrian taxidermist

Andreas Reischek to mount the

elephant skin on a frame of iron,

wood and clay.

The museum is proposing a

$195 million redevelopment of

its Rolleston Ave site, needed to

protect its heritage buildings,

the 2.3 million objects in its

collection and upgrade its visitor

facilities.

The museum building is also

in dire need of repair.

Cracks in the structure mean

pests can get in, there is no air

conditioning or insulation and

the temperature and humidity

can not be controlled. The

building also leaks in places

when it rains.

The consultation period for

the redevelopment proposal has

closed. The city council will now

decide whether to grant resource

consent for the redevelopment

based on feedback from the

public. Additional funding also

needs to be secured before the

project goes ahead.

Thursday April 22 2021 The Star 13

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The Star Thursday April 22 2021

NEWS

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

Canterbury Heritage Awards

FINALISTS FOR the biennial

Canterbury Heritage Awards

have been whittled down after

the quality of the contenders

prompted protracted debate for

the judging panel.

After weighing up more than

60 entries the four-strong panel

has selected 30 finalists to progress.

“The judging this year was

extremely

difficult. The

standard of

entries was

higher than

ever before and

the variety,

too, was indicative

of just

Anna

Crighton

how heritage is

so important

to so many

people in so

many ways,” said Christchurch

Heritage Awards Charitable

Trust chairwoman Dame Anna

Crighton.

“Now that almost half of

our built heritage has been

demolished, appreciation of

what remains is evident. The

jurors agreed, without exception,

that every entry was worthy in

contributing to the character

and streetscapes of our city and

province.”

Entries for the six categories

encompassed a wide variety of

The Riverside mural.

projects from walking tours and

domestic dwellings to mansions,

cottages and bridges.

“The entries afford the opportunity

to recognise heritage in all

PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN

its forms and to tell the stories

that are so important to us as

a community and a culture,”

Crighton said.

Category winners and the supreme

overall winner will be announced

at the awards ceremony

at Christ’s College on June 11.

The judging panel comprises

Heritage New Zealand chief

executive Andrew Coleman,

urban and regional planner

Ivan Thomson, Clare Kelly – an

architect specialising in heritage

conservation plus structural and

civil engineer Andrew Marriott.

•Canterbury

Heritage Awards 2021

finalists:

Domestic Saved and

Restored: Islay Cottage

(Tony & Brenda Good)

Montrose Station

Homestead (Wilson

& Hill Architects), The

Britten Stables (The

Britten Stables Ltd),

The Vicarage, Geraldine

(Michael & Brigitte Barker),

Thornton Earl Manor (AO

Architecture Ltd).

Public Realm Saved

and Restored: Balmoral

Fire Lookout (Hawarden

Waikari Lions Club), Corner

Kilmore and Barbadoes

Streets (Tim & Anna

Chesney), Majestic on

Durham (Sheppard &

Rout), The Pumphouse

(Paddy & Jackie Snowdon),

Rose Chapel (Christchurch

City Council), School

of Art, The Arts Centre

(The Arts Centre), The

Nurses’ Memorial Chapel

(Christchurch City Council).

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Thursday April 22 2021 The Star

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

NEWS 15

standard higher than ever

Outstanding Contribution

to Heritage: Head of the

Harbour book (Governors

Bay Heritage Trust), Te

Whare Waiutuutu Kate

Sheppard House (Heritage

New Zealand Pouhere

Taonga), Ng King Chinese

Market Garden Settlement

(Ng King descendants &

Ashburton District Council),

Structural Performance

book (Dmytro Dizhur).

Seismic: Christchurch

Town Hall (Warren and

Mahoney), Muse Art Hotel,

Rakaia Gorge No. 1 Bridge

(WSP & Downer), Sacred

Heart Basilica, Timaru

(WSP NZ Ltd), St Peter’s

Church, Upper Riccarton

(Church Property Trustees),

The Public Trust Office

Building.

Heritage Tourism: Amiki

Tours Urban Exploring

(Amiki NZ Ltd), Awaroa/

Godley Head Coastal

Defence Site (Department

of Conservation).

Riverside Market Mural

(Riverside Limited), Waka

on Avon (Ko Tane).

Future Heritage:

Aldersgate Centre (Wilkie

+ Bruce), Memorial Bridge

(Warren and Mahoney),

St Bede’s College Chapel

(Wilkie + Bruce Architects),

Tūranga Christchurch

Central Library

(Architectus).

Clockwise – Islay Cottage, Lyttelton, Nurses’

Memorial Chapel, Christchurch Hospital and

Memorial Bridge, Christchurch Airport.

AUDITIONS

CAS’n’OVA Productions are bringing to the THEATRE

Hi De Hi

Based on the 1980 TV series

Auditions are being held 25th, 26th & 27th April

No matter what theatre experience you have, come and join us

To register go to www.casnova.co.nz now!

The Star Thursday April 22 2021

NEWS

CALL TO ACTION: Sasha Harwood (left) and Kate Rayner

in their Fix It Up music video. PHOTO: NEWSLINE

Pupils on song for climate

A PAIR OF Bank Peninsula

school pupils have created and

starred in a music video calling

for more action to combat

climate change.

Te Kura o Ōhinetahi Governors

Bay School pupil Sasha

Harwood wrote the lyrics for the

song Fix It Up, with help from

classmate Kate Rayner. They

play their ukuleles in the video.

“We hope to inspire as many

others as we can that we can

fix it up. We can fix up climate

change,” Sasha said.

“We can have our voices

heard. We would love to give

others the idea to spread the

message and write their own

song. It would be amazing if we

could have a whole album of

climate change songs made.”

Kate said the song aims to

inspire others to take action.

“I think that this song is a

call to action and a reminder to

everyone that there is hope –

everyone has a voice and

it’s never too late to make a

difference,’’ Kate said.

They created the song after

their year 6 to 8 class was

challenged to think about ways

they could share their messages

about climate action with a

wider audience. Other pupils

set up walking school buses

to reduce carbon emissions,

made movies and video games,

and met with local MPs at

Parliament when the class was

at a school camp in Wellington.

Teacher Angie Rayner said

it was an amazing learning

experience for the pupils.

•Watch Sasha and

Kate’s music video at

www.starnews.co.nz

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

Vegan Angels here to help

PLANT BASED: Meals like this jackfruit souvlaki will be

delivered to people in need by The Christchurch Vegan

Society’s Vegan Angels service.

PHOTO: GREEN DINNER TABLE

PEOPLE GOING through tough

times may be visited by a vegan

angel in the near future.

The Christchurch Vegan

Society is launching Vegan

Angels, which will offer free,

one-off meals or baking for

vegans and vegetarians in need,

such as those experiencing

illness, trauma or grief and after

giving birth.

The service has been running

informally in Christchurch for

some time, but the society has

recognised the need for a more

organised, formal arrangement.

There are several places where

people can get non-vegan food

parcels and support, but the society

wants to ensure the vegan

and vegetarian community is

looked after.

Organiser Lisa Phelan said:

“Our aim is for you to know that

someone cares about you, whilst

also giving you nourishment

while you are healing.”

To ensure meals are of high

quality, it is partnering with

food box service, Green Dinner

Table, which will curate and

deliver the meal boxes on the

society’s behalf.

Each box contains food and

recipes for three meals that the

recipient can cook at home.

The society is seeking volunteers

to provide and deliver

home baking. It says Vegan

Angels must be vegan-friendly,

trustworthy and keep all communicated

matters confidential.

Anyone who wants help from

the Vegan Angels, or who wishes

to nominate someone who

would benefit from the service,

can do so online.

The service will be offered

to one person a week, and the

society will assess and prioritise

applications as they come in.

•For more information

visit veganchristchurch.org.

nz/our-city/vegan-angels/

•Or go to www.facebook.

com/veganchristchurch

Support Local.

We’re an award-winning

bank. We think we’re a

darn good bank. And we

want to be your bank.

We want to thank all of our customers and the Christchurch

community for their ongoing support. The highlight for our team

over the last 12 months was winning Canstar’s Most Satisfied

Customers Award 2020!

Left to right - Standing: Jo Taylor, Karen Docherty,

Brendon Forrest (Branch Manager), Janet Smith, Julia Austin.

Sitting: Sara Taylor, Jules Keillor.

Being a challenger bank is in our roots and

challenging the home loan options available

to the community back in 1869 was the very

reason that our story began. Our founders

knew it could be done better so SBS Bank

was established to help customers achieve

their dreams of home ownership.

We have 14 branches nationwide serving our

customers along with a New Zealand-based

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and 24/7 access through our digital channels

such as internet banking and our mobile app* .

We’ve come a long way over the past

152 years expanding from home loans

to now offering the full suite of banking

products and services.

Because we’re owned by our customers

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Come and try the SBS Bank difference.

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Thursday April 22 2021 The Star 17

No Lawyer Speak here,

just the basic facts.

I am sure by now most of you have heard about the

Class Action against Southern Response. For those

that haven’t basically Southern Response had been

preparing 2 costings for damage repair assessments

(DRA’s) on earthquake damaged homes. One version

included all costs and was for their internal use, the

second version had some costs removed or hidden.

It was this second version that Southern Response

provided to homeowners and used as a basis for

their payment to homeowners. It appears from the

information provided to the Courts that some of these

costs could add to $100,000 or more per claim.

The Courts have determined that Southern Response is

liable to pay this money to the clients, plus interest. It

is likely about 3,000 clients have been affected and are

now entitled to claim the money owed to them.

There are basically 4 options open to you to claim your

entitlement.

1. The GCA Class Action. Grant Cameron from GCA

Lawyers has started a Class Action. If you take no

action, then you will be automatically enrolled into

this Class Action. But BE WARNED, this option is

currently by far and away the most expensive way to

claim your entitlement. GCA’s Class Action is costing

homeowners up to 27.5% of each settlement, plus

legal fees. If you take no action, you will lose about

1/3 of your entitlement.

2. Do It Yourself. This is the least expensive option for

homeowners to take. You will need to OPT OUT of the

GCA Class Action, then approach Southern Response

directly, and negotiate with them.

3. Use A Lawyer. You can contact one of the law firms

who are competing to manage your claim. Their fees

vary as do their conditions, do some research before

engaging, so you know exactly what you are getting

into.

4. Go with Us. If you don’t feel confident to manage

the process for yourself and you don’t want to get

involved with lawyers, then we are offering our

advocacy service. From as little as $2,200 + gst, we

will advocate and manage your claim. Other than

doing it yourself ours is the cheapest option currently

available.

To be eligible to claim against Southern Response you

• Had to be insured with AMI at the time of the

earthquakes and had your claim managed by

Southern Response.

• Had to have settled your claim prior to October 2014.

To save yourself thousands, you

need to ACT NOW. Doing nothing

will cost you a lot of money.

To find out more about our service, send us

your details via www.srclaims.co.nz or call us

on 03-377 8855

The Star Thursday April 22 2021

Our people – Mark Shaw

Turf expert takes the green grass of home

Volunteering to look

after his club’s cricket

pitch led to Mark

Shaw venturing onto

runways at some of

the world’s busiest

airports. Chris Barclay

discovers the turf

expert certainly doesn’t

have a job that is like

watching grass grow

You’re the Turf Business

manager of PGG Wrightson

Turf. How did you get

involved with this growth

industry?

My father and four of his

brothers worked at Pyne Gould

Guinness in the seeds business.

I came straight from school

and worked there for two years

before I went to Australia for 18

months and cleaned windows

on high-rises. I came back for a

job at Mt Hutt, my goal was to

travel around the world skiing

but I fell off my skateboard on

the Port Hills, cut my hand,

missed the (ski) season and went

back to PGG and now I work for

PGG Wrightson Seeds. I’ve never

left. I head up the turf business

for Oceania. That’s golf courses,

sports fields, council’s amenity

spaces. In a nutshell, anywhere

they mow grass.

How did you end up focusing

on the turf aspect of the

business?

Sport. I didn’t really have an

affiliation with farming. I was

looking after a cricket wicket

for the Addington Cricket Club.

We moved into the senior A

comp and we basically had to

rebuild our pitch. Someone had

to look after the wicket and the

practice pitch. The previous turf

manager (at PGW Seeds) was

actually the head groundsman

at (Hamilton’s) Seddon Park, Ian

McKendry. He helped me out.

Macca cut his teeth at Lancaster

Park under Russell Wyllie back

in the day. When Ian came into

the business as a turf agronomist

and started the evaluation

process you can see out here

now … that’s what sparked my

interest.

WELL GROUNDED: Turf expert Mark Shaw gets down to earth with a grid pattern of

grasses at PGG Wrightson Seeds research centre in Lincoln. PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN

How do you become an

authority on turf?

It’s an apprenticeship scheme,

similar to any trade. Three-years

on the job with a number of

block courses you go through, as

a builder would do. I completed

my level 3 qualification while I

was working at Barrington

Park.

At first glance this looks like

a pretty laid back place to work.

There’s a mini rugby field with

posts and bucket seats from

Lancaster Park, a putting green

with a bunker full of golf balls.

They’re there for demonstration

purposes. This is the plant

breeding and research centre. It

covers grain, through to forage,

through to brassicas, through to

turf. It takes up to 10 years and

about a million dollars to bring

a cultivar to market. In any one

year we’ll probably throw out a

thousand potential cultivars.

No disrespect to leafy

Barrington Park and its

playground, but you get to go to

a higher class of sporting venue

these days don’t you?

We’re very lucky that we get to

visit some pretty amazing places

on a daily basis. Eden Park to

Kauri Cliffs to Forsyth Barr

Stadium to Jack’s Point

Golf club. You kind of take it for

granted.

EXPORT

QUALITY: Grass

developed

in Lincoln

has been

sown at the

headquarters

of Argentine

football giant

Boca Juniors in

Buenos Aires.

And even further afield?

I’ve been to Thomond Park

in Limerick and been reminded

Munster beat the All Blacks (in

1978). Ascot (home of racing’s

Gold Cup) utilise our grass.

I’ve also been to a number of

stadiums in South America in

recent years. Boca Juniors (La

Bombonera) and River Plate

(Estadio Monumental) and the

San Isidro rugby club where the

All Blacks train (in Argentina’s

capital Buenos Aires), they all

use our grass seed. A number

of years ago on a trip back from

Europe I visited The Royal Golf

Club in Bahrain. Now we analyse

their soil tests and provide them

with a fertiliser and agrichemical

programme.

Golf is another major driver

for the international market

isn’t it?

It certainly is, if you go to

any of the top clubs in the UK,

they will be using our (cultivars

of) browntops on their greens.

Our plant breeders do a lot of

work drawing material out of

older New Zealand golf courses

that are managed with very

low level inputs. These grasses

basically evolve by themselves.

We put them through a breeding

process that can take 10 years

before trialing them in the UK.

We export between 60 and

100 tonnes of browntop to that

market every year.

So what you’re saying is

a sample taken from the

nine-hole up the road at

Lincoln could eventually undo

the favourite at The Open

Championship?

Yes. Very, very easily. Our

latest browntop is named

after Sir Bob Charles. The

genetics of that cultivar come

from Balmacewen, Fairlie and

Methven golf clubs.

This sounds ridiculous, but

explain the distinction between

the 18th green at Royal Troon

and a rugby field?

There’s different growth habits.

Forsyth Barr (in Dunedin) is

a ryegrass, a bunch type plant

that grows very actively in

cooler conditions. As a species it

requires high levels of nitrogen

to keep the plant stimulated and

growing actively. Browntop is a

low nutrient requirement plant,

it doesn’t require a lot of nitrogen

to keep it healthy. Browntops can

tolerate mowing heights down

to 2-½ to 3mm. If you mow a

ryegrass down to 2-½ to 3mm

you will lose ground cover pretty

quickly. Your stadium turf …

that’s predominately a turf-type

perennial that’s tighter and finer

in the leaf than a forage type

that’s grazed by cows.

Heading back abroad,

the company established a

foothold in Uruguay about 15

years ago and it’s not all about

grass is it?

When I first went over there

they were marking soccer fields

with a paint roller and 20 litre

buckets of house paint. It was

taking them three hours and

you could imagine the quality of

it. There were drips of paint all

over the ground, footprints going

through it. We took a battery

powered machine over there and

showed them how to mark a field

in 20 minutes with a paint that’s

safe for use on turf.

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Thursday April 22 2021 The Star

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

to the world’s stadium’s and airports

Covid-19 has put trips to

South America on hold, but

you’re keen to get back there

aren’t you?

I have an affiliation with that

market, when I first started going

there it was very much like going

back to turf management 30-40

years ago in New Zealand. To be

able to introduce something just

as simple as a line marker and see

how the market accepts that

. . . each time I go they want

more knowledge.

Racking up air miles had

been part and parcel of your

role since a grass to deter birds

fluttering onto flight paths was

developed wasn’t it?

Avanex grass seed has

endophytes developed by

AgResearch that can produce

high levels of alkaloids. The

alkaloids create an aversion to

eating it for the grazing animal.

It’s no different from having a big

night on gin, and never drinking

gin again. You learn ‘that’s bad

food.’ Birds are pretty quick

learners. The idea was to plant

it in an airfield to create a safer

environment for aircraft to land.

The Miracle on the Hudson

in 2009 – which spawned the

movie Sully starring Tom

Hanks – saw interest in Avanex

take off didn’t it?

Canada geese going through

the engines of that flight brought

the multi-billion dollar (bird

control) industry to light. I

travelled to a number of bird

strike conferences around the

world – not a great thing to do

when all you’re seeing is horrific

photos of bird damage on

planes. I’ve met wildlife officers

at La Guardia (where the Sully

flight originated), JFK and San

Francisco International. You’re

right beside the planes when

they’re taking off and landing. It’s

a pretty weird feeling.

Back to rugby. Loathe as

we are to give Dunedin any

credit, Forsyth Barr Stadium

looks an absolute picture

doesn’t it?

It’s the first permanent roofed

stadium with a living turf surface

in the world, and it’s a success

story. The scrums are stable,

you’ll never see a divot on that

ground. They plant the real grass

in a sand profile and then stitch

artificial fibres into that to give

stability. The roots of the ryegrass

lock around the fibres creating a

very stable surface.

The Christchurch Multi-

Use Arena is on the drawing

board, how should the turf be

incorporated to that enclosed

venue?

A number of companies

have looked at robotic

removable turf systems,

similar to what’s used at

(English football club)

Tottenham Hotspur. You can

push a button there and within

six hours that turf goes into a

racking system like a vertical car

park. Then you have a grey floor

you could put an ice skating rink

on.

BIRD STRIKE: The downing of US Airways Flight 1549

in New York’s Hudson River in 2009 benefited a turf

innovation developed in New Zealand.

GROWTH

INDUSTRY:

Mark Shaw in

the seedling

growth room,

part of a

process that

can take a

decade before

a sample is

marketed.

PHOTO: GEOFF

SLOAN

This sounds pricey and

unrealistic for a 30,000-capacity

(max) stadium?

There would be a massive cost

with a robotic turf system, and

the turf is always the last thing

they’ll think about. If it was me

you’d build your stadium so the

turf system could be pushed out

into the car park and rotated to

follow the apex of the sun. That

way every bit of the ground gets

the same amount of sunlight

on it throughout the day. I don’t

believe we have got enough land

on the site for that.

You’re a one-eyed Cantabrian

but is the grass really greener

outside the four avenues or New

Zealand as a whole?

I might be a bit biased but I

believe our stadium managers

do a better job than anywhere in

the world. I challenge anybody

to find a better looking ground

than Eden Park or FMG Stadium

(Hamilton), that’s just an

immaculate ground. You go to

Forsyth Barr and you look at

the turf quality any day of the

week, it looks amazing. I know

they may have more matches

on grounds in Australia but the

turf just doesn’t have that same

x-factor. Marvel in Melbourne

(the retractable roof stadium in

Docklands) is probably one of the

worst grounds in the world for

getting actual sunlight onto the

ground. I believe they have the

most grow lights of any stadium

in the world. They joke when they

turn them on Melbourne’s CBD

does a bit of a flicker because of

the draw on the power.

Winter is coming. You’re not

a fan of artificial grass in the

backyard but is there a place for

it on Canterbury’s frost-bitten

sporting landscape?

I believe every school in New

Zealand should have an artificial

field that is World Rugby and

FIFA approved. They could then

lease that ground at night to local

clubs for training and then both

the club and school main fields

are in much better condition for

the players on a Saturday.

Condition-wise, how does

your lawn rate? Surely it

resembles a carpet?

We have a bit of a competition

across the New Zealand (PGW

Turf) team. I present the award

so I’m not allowed to give it to

myself. I’m actually doing a bit of

work on my lawn at the moment.

Mine is pure fine-fescue, it’ll be the

same as the grass that you’ll see at

(Queenstown’s) Jack’s Point Golf

Course on their fairways. Pure

fine-fescue is the finest leafed grass

you can get. It is the lowest nutrient

requirement grass and probably

the slowest growing out of all the

lawn options you have. The beauty

of it is you can spray one chemical

over it and selectively removes any

other species of grass. It’s very easy

to keep it pure but if you’ve got kids

and dogs, you’ll probably want a

perennial ryegrass that can handle

the wear.

When you’re at a mate’s

place for a barbecue, do you

automatically judge the lawn

ahead of the chops?

I do, and I can guarantee in the

spring or the autumn a mate, or

a mate of a mate, or someone at

work will say ‘I’ve got a problem

with the lawn, what do I do

about this? And then you end

up getting dragged into a whole

lawn renovation and you’re

round there with a rake in your

hand.

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The Star Thursday April 22 2021

OPINION

The New

Zealand

Initiative

chairman

Roger

Partridge

talks Covid-19

testing

DURING THE Covid pandemic,

the public has heard a lot about

the precautionary principle.

The Prime Minister referred

to it when announcing every

lockdown.

Most recently, Auckland was

placed at alert level 3 in February

because of the Government’s

precautionary approach. The uncertainty

created by three community

cases in Papatoetoe was

enough to lock up the country’s

largest city for a third time. The

fears that prompted Auckland’s

move to alert level 3 proved

unfounded. Yet few questioned

the Government’s approach. The

public has become conditioned

to the precautionary principle’s

safety-first procedures.

The public has heard less about

the closely related and broader

cautionary principle. Judging

by last week’s revelations about

“case B”, a Grand Millennium

MIQ security guard infected

with Covid-19 who had evaded

testing for Covid-19 for more

than six months, nor have

health officials or the Minister of

Health.

The precautionary principle

applies in cases of scientific

uncertainties. By contrast, the

cautionary principle applies to

known risks and dangers. The

principle holds that if the consequences

of an activity could

be catastrophic, then cautionary

measures should be taken to

minimise the risk. Most readers

subconsciously follow the

cautionary principle in their everyday

lives. Modern wiring and

electric lighting mean the risk of

a house catching fire nowadays

is small. Yet, because the consequences

of a fire are so severe,

homeowners and communities

adopt a series of fail-safes.

Smoke alarms and household

extinguishers, on-call emergency

services, building codes, and fire

insurance all guard against the

risk of everything going up in

smoke.

Regulatory regimes also

routinely adopt the cautionary

approach. Food safety standards

policed by the Ministry for

Primary Industries make sure

food is safe to consume. Aircraft

safety regulations policed by the

Civil Aviation Authority make

sure air travel is safe and reliable.

To make sure roads are as safe as

they can be, the police enforce

the road code. And the New

Zealand Transport Authority

ensures vehicles are regularly

warranted for fitness.

Each of these regimes has

detailed checks and balances.

The goal is to reduce the risk of

human error, human oversight,

or even willful non-compliance.

The approach is justified under

the cautionary principle. The risk

of mistakes is judged too important

to leave to the vagaries of

individual conduct.

New Zealand’s biggest risk is

not an outbreak of salmonella

or a car with faulty brakes. It is

another Covid-incursion – especially

with new, more virulent

coronavirus strains now circulating

around the world. Covid can

only enter the country through

our border. And all Kiwis know

the cost of a Covid-incursion is

high. The price is measured not

simply in the loss of personal

freedom from lockdowns, but

in lives and livelihoods. Yet, according

to the Prime Minister,

the Grand Millennium security

guard was able to evade the border

security system simply by

“lying.” If that is so, the Ministry

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz

Testing bungles fail cautionary principle

INFECTION: The Grand Millennium MIQ facility in Auckland.

PHOTO: WILLIAM TERITE

of Health’s regulatory regime

has unforgivable flaws. A system

that can be undone by a border

worker not telling the truth is no

system at all.

When the costs of failure are

so calamitous, the cautionary

principle required the Ministry

to have designed, implemented,

and enforced the most fail-safe

system possible to ensure that

workers at risk of coming in

to contact with Covid-19 are

regularly tested for the virus. If

the Ministry did not have the

necessary resources, Covid-19

Response Minister Chris Hipkins

should have ensured they

were made available.

And if the ministry was unable

to implement a robust system

in the nine months since the

minister promised that all border

workers would be routinely

tested, organisations supplying

border workers should at least

be subjected to regular process

audits and spot checks. After

all, it is another well-known

principle of regulatory design

that when detection of breaches

is difficult, enforcement action

must be strict.

On Television New Zealand’s

Q&A on Sunday, Hipkins

acknowledged the Government

“could have moved earlier when

it came to making the border

worker testing register mandatory.”

But he suggested this conclusion

was easy to reach with

the benefit of “hindsight.”

Yet it did not require hindsight

to work out that mandatory

systems were needed to reduce

the risk of the biggest danger

the country faces. Just as confounding

was Hipkins apparent

acceptance that the register “will

only tell us when someone has

been tested – it won’t necessarily

tell us when they needed to be

tested.”

“We do have to rely on employers

determining who of those

people on the register need to be

tested and when they need to be

tested,” he said.

No New Zealander should find

these comments satisfactory.

If the register is so ineffective

that it cannot even do the job

that NZTA routinely does with

Warrants of Fitness (by telling

owners when their vehicles are

due their next check-up), then

the minister needs to ensure that

other steps are taken to make

sure workers are being tested.

Spot checks by enforcement

officers – followed by hefty fines

for non-compliance – are an

obvious approach.

To excuse the ministry’s failings,

Hipkins attempted to draw

an analogy between Covid-19

and a speeding driver. He said,

“If somebody drives their car too

fast and causes an accident that

injures, or even kills someone; to

say that that’s the Government’s

fault because we didn’t have a

speed camera on every street

would be somewhat of a high

threshold to set.”

Hipkins is right to infer that

frontline companies and their

workers need to take personal responsibility.

But the Government

has a critical role to play too.

Unlike New Zealand’s extensive

road network, the country’s border

risks arise at a comparatively

small number of locations. All

those locations can be policed.

More importantly, unlike the

speeding driver, the careless

or wilfully disobedient border

worker risks not just harming

themselves and others on the

road but harming all of us. The

revelations about the Grand

Millennium security guard’s

testing record were bad enough.

But they came on top of revelations

a week earlier that neither

the security guard nor Case

C – also a border worker, and

a close contact of the security

guard – had been vaccinated.

In response to these revelations,

director-general of health Dr

Ashley Bloomfield was reported

as stating “he would have hoped”

the workers had been vaccinated

by now. Yet none of this should

be left to “hope”. The ministry

has had the luxury of following

other nations when designing

its vaccination programme.

Countries like the United States,

the United Kingdom, Singapore

and Israel started vaccinating

their citizens in December last

year. This gave New Zealand two

months of lead time.

In February, the Ministry of

Health announced it expected

to have vaccinated all “frontline

staff” within two or three weeks.

A chart released a few weeks later

by the Ministry set that date as

the end of March. The Herald’s

investigations have since revealed

the chart was nothing more

than a graphic designer imagining

what a robust vaccination

programme might achieve. Just

like New Zealand’s Covid testing

regime, the chart had a semblance

of rigour but in reality was just

thin air.

In response to “chartgate,” late

last week the Ministry of Health

released target vaccination data.

The targets are ambitious. After

a slow start in the first half of

the year, the Ministry expects

more than half a million doses to

be administered weekly during

September and October. The

targets suggest 90 per cent of New

Zealand’s adult population will be

vaccinated in the second half of

the year. Yet few countries in the

world have managed to vaccinate

10 per cent of their populations

in a week – and none of them

have populations as large as New

Zealand’s. More troublingly, the

targets were released without

detailed plans explaining how

they are to be met. Based on the

evidence to date, the targets may

be little more concrete than the

projections from the Ministry’s

graphic designer. When the risk

of omission is catastrophic, the

cautionary principle requires

The Star: April 22, 2021

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