Bay Harbour: May 26, 2021

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Bay Harbour News Wednesday May 26 2021 6 NEWS ‘Market is still red-hot right now’ • From page 1 “Our vendor was downsizing, and we were able to attract more than 40 groups through during the open homes – that competition was also seen come auction day with strong active bidding.” The three bedroom property has panoramic views across to the Southern Alps and ocean. Ray White New Zealand auctioneer Ben East said the auction capped a great week for the company with eight properties selling for more than $4.8 million combined in Christchurch. “There’s no doubt the expansive views attracted buyers, along with the lifestyle, with all three of the registered buyers competing,” he said. “The remarkable thing we’re seeing is terrific success for our sellers across all price points – ranging from $366,000 – up into the millions,” said “The majority of our auctions attract active bidding and once the competition really kicks off, and with demand still outstripping the supply of property, we’re still seeing some excellent outcomes for our valued sellers. The market is still red-hot right now.” • By Samantha Mythen TRANSFERRED by road at 4.30am on May 14 and lifted on site via two cranes and the help of 20 contractors, the blue room – once used as the Mt Pleasant Community Centre – has found its new home. It now sits among the fields of flowers at Aromaunga Baxters Flowers in Heathcote. The Baxter family, who have owned the florist business for 40 years, bought the blue room from the city council. After the February 22, 2011, earthquake destroyed the Mt Pleasant Community Centre, a temporary building was set up in its place – it’s blue walls giving it the name of blue room. Because a new community centre has since been built, the blue room is no longer needed. John Baxter said they purchased the building as their business is expanding and they needed more shed space. The blue room will now we used for flower processing, where the picked flowers are trimmed and bunched for their shop and at markets. “We’re excited to have the blue room here,” Baxter said. “It has a lot of history.” Baxter said when he and one of his brothers Mike went to view the blue room before purchasing it, he could already picture it being on site in Heathcote. “It was a little building that Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz 106-year-old is ‘a real gem’ • By Samantha Mythen (the organisation that owns Edith Cavell is just older than Mary – WORLD WAR 1 was in having turned 106 in February. its second year when Mary Mary lived in Bedfordshire Brackenbury was born on until, at the age of 90, she bravely May 13, 1915, in Bedfordshire, said goodbye to her friends in the England. United Kingdom and immigrated Now, at 106, Mary has celebrated another year of her life to Christchurch to be closer to her daughter. with friends and family out at her During World War 2, she home at Edith Cavell Lifecare, in was a volunteer with the Royal Sumner. Observer Corps, a civil defence The celebrations at Edith Cavell organisation that worked to spot were followed by a family lunch and identify enemy aircraft over at 50 Bistro her favourite restaurant at The George. As she has Britain. Still in good health now, Mary done for the last six years, Mary has been active in the St Andrews received cards from the Queen, Redcliffs Anglican church. Governor-General,Dame Patsy Said Wallace: “Mary is not Reddy, and Jacinda Adern. really sure of the secret to long Edith Cavell Lifecare manager life, but she tells us her four Scott Wallace said: “We are delighted to have Mary as a resident grandchildren and eight great grandchildren give her a constant and were even more delighted zest for life.” to help her celebrate her 106th “She is a real gem,” he said. birthday.” Wallace said Mary is their oldest resident, with the next BIRTHDAY CHEER: Mary resident aged 102. Brackenbury recently turned However, he said the oldest 106 at Edith Cavell Lifecare resident within Heritage Lifecare rest home.. Blue room gets new home at florist business needed a home,” he said. Said Mt Pleasant Community Centre president Rebekah McCullough said: “ We’re thrilled the blue room has gone there and it’s wonderful it can still be a part of our extended community. “We are pleased they can use the room and that they appreciate its history.” Said market and centre co-ordinator Di Richardson: “We are so delighted it has gone to a good home and is still in the neighbourhood.” Baxter joked that although the space was needed for their flower processing, he loved table tennis, and the space looked perfect for setting up a table tennis tournament. “We’ll see what happens,” he said. Baxter and his two brothers, Mike and Richard – ‘the Baxter boys’ – run and own the florist. BAXTER BOYS: John and Mike Baxter are excited to fill their new blue room with flowers. PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
Wednesday May 26 2021 Bay Harbour News Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz NEWS 7 Peninsula drought worst in 25 years Frank Film reports on farmers doing it tough. To watch the video go to nzherald.co.nz TIM DAVIE, director of science at Environment Canterbury, pauses in a stony gully, a narrow trough between banks of browning grass. It was not what he expected to see. “I was hoping to show you some water on the Port Hills,” he tells Frank Film. “But there’s nothing here. Tim Davie Normally this pond would be full of water, up to my waist.” On the western flank of Pigeon Bay, Edward Aitken of Craigforth farm walks across the parched ground of his sheep and cattle farm. The scenery is dramatic, the hills a uniform brown against a relentlessly blue sky. “These paddocks would normally have new grass and established greenfield crops. “They’ve been fallow now since last November. There is absolutely no moisture in the sub-soil.” Sixth generation Banks Peninsula farmer Hamish Craw of Ridgecliff farm said he has never seen it this bad. “In the 25 years I’ve farmed, this is by far the worst I’ve experienced. The risk is, we get a cold winter with minimal grass growth and we’ll struggle to feed stock to their potential.” “The dry” – it is a term normally associated with the arid landscape of Australia. Now it is being repeated through much of New Zealand’s east coast. Data from the eastern bays of Banks Peninsula recorded only 44mm of rain between January and March – the average for that period is 148mm. Last year, the region received only half the usual annual rainfall. PARCHED: Dry pastures on Banks Peninsula are causing headaches for farmers. Droughts, of course, are part of a natural cycle on the peninsula, MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said. “If you have been farming around Canterbury long enough you probably would have been through a few big ones.” Rain records show a pattern of dry patches throughout the year, followed by wet ones. The drought of 1988-89 hit Banks Peninsula farmers hard. “We were unable to sell stock. The market price was terrible,” said Ferris. “We sold lambs for $2 and ewes for $10. What saved us here Lewis Ferris Edward Aitken on the east coast is the irrigation – there is always someone now with irrigation who can buy your stock.” The difference now, said Ferris, is that both the air and the land are hotter. FRUSTRATED: Hamish and Annabel Craw are moving stock for grazing elsewhere. PHOTOS: FRANK FILM “So we see evaporation happening more readily.” Said Davie about hydrology: “The water across Banks Peninsula is not connected to the Canterbury Plains aquifers. “Rather, it comes from rain seeping down through the cracks and fractures of the basalt rock before emerging as small springs that feed into the rivers and streams. “Climate change predictions are for longer dry periods, and when it does rain, it is more intense rain which runs off more quickly. There is less held in the rocks, so there are significant changes we are likely to see in the streams of Banks Peninsula.” The long dry spells are expected to continue, at least until July. For the farmers of Banks Peninsula, their choices are limited. You sell the stock, feed the stock “or send them out to grazing,” Aitken said. “If you can, grazing is usually the best option.” Due to limited grass growth, the Craws are moving stock off the peninsula for grazing over winter. “It is frustrating having to do this,” Annabel Craw said. “It’s not what we’ve budgeted for, or planned for, but we need to make sure our stock stay in good condition ready for calving next spring.” Aitken is selling some of his cows, some have been moved for grazing elsewhere. “Apart from one small mob, the whole cow herd really has gone, and lots of other stock as well.” If the effects of the dry continue for a couple of years, “we will get some pasture damage. And it will take us a while to build our stock numbers back up again,’’ he said. As with other Banks Peninsula farmers, he will be asking the hard question: “Do we have the right numbers and the right type of animal on properties such as this?’’ Already he is looking at changing his grass mix, aiming for a hardier, more robust drought-resistant species. The Craws too are looking at improving the resilience of their farm. “We probably are going to experience drier patterns so we have to adjust the way we farm the land and look after our pastures,” said Hamish Craw. “Other strategies we’ve got is making sure we’ve got a good genetic basis – we are targeting intra-muscular fat in our cattle and sheep.” The Craw family has also been planting native trees to improve the biodiversity of their farm but it has been a challenging season to start the venture. While trees in the gully and in the wetter spots have done well, “there’s a few up on these ridges that have been hammered by the dry,” Annabel said. “We’re looking at planting more drought-tolerant species next year.” As the dry continues, these farmers are being forced into planning not just for the seasonal blip but for long-term changes on the land. “The climate has been changing,” Ferris said. “We’ve been seeing it changing. It’s not a future problem. It’s a problem now.” – NZ Herald What did the Red House on Celia Street sell for? Ask Marilyn. Marilyn Still, Bayleys Real Estate 027 229 8769 | marilyn.still@bayleys.co.nz WHALAN AND PARTNERS LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008
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Bay Harbour: May 26, 2021

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