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It is Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) awareness week from 20th to 26th March.
We are a nationwide, but locally based, community organisation. Our volunteers are here to help people to know and understand their rights and obligations, and how to use this information to get the best outcomes. We … View moreIt is Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) awareness week from 20th to 26th March.
We are a nationwide, but locally based, community organisation. Our volunteers are here to help people to know and understand their rights and obligations, and how to use this information to get the best outcomes. We provide people with the confidence and support they need to take action.
You don’t have to be a Citizen to use us and this week we are celebrating the diversity and multiculturalism within our service. If you would like help in your language, call our freephone number 0800 367 222, or visit your local CAB, and let us know what language speaker you require. Language should not be a barrier to getting the information and advice you need.
Find out more about CAB, what we do and what it's like volunteering. Click on the link to go to the podcast
AEA holds regular online meetings and welcomes newcomers from all over the world. Attendance at meetings helps members feel a part of the fellowship. Members share how AEA has worked for them and the difference it is making in their lives.
A provocative and breath-taking wakeup call told through video and live music.
Increase your chances to win this brand-new, fully-furnished home located just north of Auckland in the stunning beachside town of Mangawhai.
Valued at over $1.4 million and built to perfection by Jennian homes, this brand-new home features three-bedrooms, two-bathrooms and boasts an open-plan … View moreIncrease your chances to win this brand-new, fully-furnished home located just north of Auckland in the stunning beachside town of Mangawhai.
Valued at over $1.4 million and built to perfection by Jennian homes, this brand-new home features three-bedrooms, two-bathrooms and boasts an open-plan kitchen, living and dining area.
Make this property your permanent residence, a holiday home, a rental or even sell it. Tickets only $15 – get in quick and purchase more tickets today.
I heard a lot of noise out the front of my place,and here's an old guy with a white beard, tandem trailer loading up the book fridge,says on the front swap books had books in it,and he was loading up to take away.man did I give him what for ,how bloody rude.reckons he didn't see the books… View moreI heard a lot of noise out the front of my place,and here's an old guy with a white beard, tandem trailer loading up the book fridge,says on the front swap books had books in it,and he was loading up to take away.man did I give him what for ,how bloody rude.reckons he didn't see the books as they all fell out.bad form.disgusted.
Addington School
5-7pm Thursdays 2nd February - 30th March
Bike Bridge Christchurch - Taught by women, for women.
All abilities welcome - from those who have never sat on a bike to those that want to build confidence on the road.
Bikes and helmets provided.
Come when you can between 5-7pm;… View moreAddington School
5-7pm Thursdays 2nd February - 30th March
Bike Bridge Christchurch - Taught by women, for women.
All abilities welcome - from those who have never sat on a bike to those that want to build confidence on the road.
Bikes and helmets provided.
Come when you can between 5-7pm; no worries if you arrive late or need to leave early. No need to book.
Please wear closed footwear.
Bike Bridge at Addington School poster Feb 2023.pdf Download View
Costs are high making 2023 a tough year already! Who's the hero doing the hard yards to keep things running in your household?
NZ Compare wants to pay $350 towards their Broadband and Power bill!
Nominate your household Hero by clicking the button below and be in to WIN $350!
Offer ENDS… View moreCosts are high making 2023 a tough year already! Who's the hero doing the hard yards to keep things running in your household?
NZ Compare wants to pay $350 towards their Broadband and Power bill!
Nominate your household Hero by clicking the button below and be in to WIN $350!
Offer ENDS 31st March 2023.
Need more ways to save money? Comparing your power and broadband bills is one way to see if you can save more or simply switch to something that better suits your needs. If you’re paying for it, make sure it works for you!
NZ Compare can help, CLICK HERE TO COMPARE!
Primary, secondary and kindergarten teachers are striking this week as they look for a pay offer that meets inflation at 7.2% and makes concessions around staffing issues - in particular, student to teacher ratios.
A ratio of 1 teacher for 23 students applies for year 11 students, however … View morePrimary, secondary and kindergarten teachers are striking this week as they look for a pay offer that meets inflation at 7.2% and makes concessions around staffing issues - in particular, student to teacher ratios.
A ratio of 1 teacher for 23 students applies for year 11 students, however support staff can be counted as teachers so the reality is that class sizes can be much higher.
What do you think are the ideal sizes for classrooms?
Type NFP alongside your comments if you don't wish these to be shared in the We Say You Say column of the local paper.
We can see you're paying a lot for your broadband each month (we'll have some helpful advice on that soon)! Now let's shine the spot light on Power! The other BIG bill Kiwis are juggling.
We know usage can fluctuate quite a bit meaning so would your bill but to keep it simple, … View moreWe can see you're paying a lot for your broadband each month (we'll have some helpful advice on that soon)! Now let's shine the spot light on Power! The other BIG bill Kiwis are juggling.
We know usage can fluctuate quite a bit meaning so would your bill but to keep it simple, how much does your power bill usually come to?
From reporter Steven Walton:
Leading Christchurch developers are scaling back major projects, putting others on hold and threatening to pull out of the central city altogether in protest of council plans to make some streets one-way.
Philip Carter and Shaun Stockman made stark warnings to … View moreFrom reporter Steven Walton:
Leading Christchurch developers are scaling back major projects, putting others on hold and threatening to pull out of the central city altogether in protest of council plans to make some streets one-way.
Philip Carter and Shaun Stockman made stark warnings to Christchurch city councillors on Wednesday as they vented about a $33 million plan to make roads around the new Te Kaha stadium more pedestrian-friendly.
One of the most significant proposals in the plan is to make Lichfield St, between Madras and Manchester St, one-way with a 10kph speed limit, though three quarters of the 1200 submitters supported this.
A leading transport academic was among those in support and said the streets had to be made safer.
But Carter and Stockman said the council was breaking promises of earlier post-earthquake rebuild documents, which had left them without certainty.
Carter, who developed The Crossing, said the documents showed Lichfield St would remain two-way.
The street was an “artery” for his car park at The Crossing and the council was “tampering” with it, he said.
Making it one-way would break trust, he said, adding that he had “deep concerns” about anything that affected traffic coming into the city.
He also criticised council plans to make part of Gloucester St one-way, which were recently put on hold.
“You guys [the council] continue to make it so hard,” Carter said.
“You are now driving investments away.”
In light of the council proposals, Carter said:
- He would stop a planned development on the old Holiday Inn site, despite having attracted an international tenant with no other New Zealand stores.
- He was no longer prepared to be involved in the planned car park for the new Catholic Cathedral precinct.
- He would downscale his planned international hotel beside the new Te Pae convention centre.
- Carter said he also wanted to stop work on an office building in Cathedral Square , but could not because construction had recently commenced.
He said he recently showed a London investor a site near the convention centre and asked him if he wanted to put a hotel there. After hearing about the Gloucester St plans, the investor replied: “Why would I”, Carter said.
A council analysis of those who wanted Lichfield St to remain two-way found many were concerned about loss of parking and traffic flow. Some also wanted cars to take priority.
But planning just for cars was “at best unbelievably naive and at worst plain dumb”, according to Canterbury University professor Simon Kingham, who is also chief science adviser to the Ministry of Transport.
“You need to provide good alternatives, [such as] walking, cycling and public transport and people will change their behaviour,” he said.
“This is clearly what the evidence says.”
Kingham backed council staff’s view that the streets had to be safer and more pedestrian-friendly.
He said he was horrified when the plans were paused last year.
Youth-led climate action organisation Generation Zero also supported the one-way option and said the streets should be redesigned to be safer for pedestrians, cyclists, scooter and mobility device users.
The council analysis said submitters backing the one-way plan supported enhanced pedestrian access, more safety, as well as the greening and beautification of the street.
Five Lichfield St businesses supported the one-way plan while four wanted the two-way option.
Out of all Christchurch businesses that submitted, 17 supported one-way while 35 wanted two-way.
Developer Shaun Stockman was among the latter. He said his company’s board was so alarmed by the proposed revamp that it had paused two projects.
“If these proposals as per go ahead, we will be stopping any further investment in Christchurch CBD fullstop,” he said.
Stockman claimed the revamp overlooked the elderly and disabled communities; removed an unnecessary amount of car parking; and would take away valuable trade from businesses.
Stockman said he did not own buildings in the affected streets, but owned some in surrounding streets.
The views of residents and businesses are now being considered by councillors Melanie Coker, Tyrone Fields, Sara Templeton, Mark Peters, and Yani Johanson.
They will make a recommendation to council on how to proceed with the revamp, with a final decision to be made by the full council.
From reporter Steven Walton:
A $78 million government grant to improve Christchurch's “unreliable” bus service will only cover about one-third the project's total cost.
Local councils and Waka Kotahi will cover the remaining $160m to ensure buses arrive every 7.5 minutes on key… View moreFrom reporter Steven Walton:
A $78 million government grant to improve Christchurch's “unreliable” bus service will only cover about one-third the project's total cost.
Local councils and Waka Kotahi will cover the remaining $160m to ensure buses arrive every 7.5 minutes on key routes.
The Government money is coming out of the budget of the ditched $785m cycling and walking bridge planned for the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
A major revamp of the Christchurch bus network was first revealed in late 2020, but the time frame for the work was going to be about 12 years. The Government contribution, announced on Friday, would allow the revamp to happen within five to six years.
“This will offer people living in Christchurch regular and much more reliable bus services,” Transport Minister Michael Wood said.
Amongst the planned improvements are 100 extra buses, 22km of new bus lanes, and more than 470 new bus shelters. Some of the work has already begun, like adding bus lanes to Lincoln Rd.
The 100 new buses are being introduced despite recent struggles nationwide with a driver shortage. The shortage has caused thousands of bus trips being cancelled in Christchurch in recent months, frustrating commuters.
Wood said there had been “good progress” with the driver shortage in Christchurch. The shortage was now only 49 drivers, he said.
The 2020 business case for the city’s bus revamp said buses were unreliable and not as quick as taking a car.
It also estimated the revamp’s infrastructure (capital) work would cost about $115m, but Wood confirmed that number had now risen.
He said the revamp’s total cost would be $238m, but this figure also included the operational costs of running new buses and paying the new drivers. He was not able to say how much of the $238m cost was capital costs and how much was operational costs.
Of the $238m, the Government is covering $78m of it directly and the remaining $160m will be split between local councils and Waka Kotahi. Waka Kotahi and councils in Christchurch have already planned to spend millions on the revamp, but it is not clear how much each party will end up spending. Wood’s office has been asked to provide this detail.
Mayor Phil Mauger said it was great to be at the Government’s funding announcement on Friday, even though he voted against the revamp’s business case in 2020.
Asked if he would still vote against it, he said “probably not” because he had “learnt a lot more about how buses will make a difference [with reducing emissions]”.
Buses were a “good thing” that would help the climate change situation, he said.
Mauger said he also supported the 22km of new bus lanes, “as long as they’re in the right place”. Narrow roads should not be made narrower, he said.
“It’s all very well to have bus lanes everywhere, but if no-one else can get along [the road] everyone's going to get all snarly and upset.”
As part of the revamp, Christchurch’s main bus routes will have dedicated bus lanes with traffic lights that give buses priority.
The city’s main bus routes are Rangiora to Cashmere (#1), Airport to Sumner (#3), Rolleston to New Brighton (#5) and Halswell to Queenspark (#7). All of these services go into the central city and stop at the bus interchange.
The fifth main route is The Orbiter, which does a circular route.
The revamp aims to convert the main routes to “turn-up-and-go” services, where a bus would arrive every 7.5 minutes between 7am and 7pm on weekdays.
Presently, these routes only have a 10 or 15-minute frequency.
The business case for the revamp said 14 million trips were taken on Christchurch buses in 2018, and it hoped to increase this to 20 million by 2028.
Know the friendliest barista around? Does your mechanic always go the extra mile? Got a lawn-mowing legend? Hairdresser hero?
Give your favourite local business the recognition they deserve by nominating them in the 2023 Prospa Local Business Hero awards.
There's been hundreds of … View moreKnow the friendliest barista around? Does your mechanic always go the extra mile? Got a lawn-mowing legend? Hairdresser hero?
Give your favourite local business the recognition they deserve by nominating them in the 2023 Prospa Local Business Hero awards.
There's been hundreds of incredible entries already but don't forget to nominate your local this week. The recognition will make their day (and they're in with a chance to win a $10,000 package!).
Share a few words about your favourite local now.
Your home is your sanctuary, and that’s why Ryman villages are designed to be safe havens.
We’ve prepared for adverse events, so you don’t have to.
Your safety and your family’s peace of mind are our priority. Every Ryman village has staff available 24/7 and backup generators for … View moreYour home is your sanctuary, and that’s why Ryman villages are designed to be safe havens.
We’ve prepared for adverse events, so you don’t have to.
Your safety and your family’s peace of mind are our priority. Every Ryman village has staff available 24/7 and backup generators for emergencies. If something happens, you’re in safe hands.
We’ll take care of everything and make sure that you have what you need.
If you or a loved one are over 70, Ryman has a range of options from emergency accommodation through to townhouses or apartments available to purchase.
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