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9 a.m. news bulletin presented by Tim Dower.
Headlines:
- heavy rain in Christchurch has created surface flooding and silt has blocked drains in Christchurch’s eastern suburbs
- the rain restricted search and rescue operations overnight
- it is “chaos” in Christchurch’s CBD as parts of the area are opened up to business people and residents of those areas
- 1200 portable toilets have been delivered to Christchurch houses and more are on their way
- 270,000 tonnes of silt have been shifted
- welfare officers and building inspectors have so far visited 70,000 home and 1300 have received a red placard meaning they are too unsafe to enter
- the Minister for Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee says, if it was up to him, all Christchurch’s heritage buildings would be demolished a part from a few iconic ones
Presenter Susi Maclean:
- parts of the CBD were opened at 8am this morning to allow business people and residents to secure their premises and homes before the areas are opened to the public from 2pm today. There are huge queues of people waiting to get in, which requires identification to be shown
- presenter Susi Maclean talks about a huge aftershock felt last night, the largest since February the 22nd
- details of the location, date and times of open air community briefings beginning today in damaged areas are given
- NTZB reporter Brodie Kane reports from the Civil Defence headquarters at the Christchurch Art Gallery: search and rescue operations have resumed after being halted overnight due to heavy rain, work is underway at the CTV (Canterbury Television) building and the Forsyth Barr building which suffered more broken windows in the magnitude 4.8 aftershock overnight
- NTZB reporter Lesley Murdoch reports from the opening of some parts of the CBD: “green zone 1” is in the south of the city centre and is bordered by Armagh, Antigua, Rolleston and Durham. “Green zone 2” is in the east of the city centre and is bordered by Barbadoes, Fitzgerald, Moorhouse, Cambridge and Oxford. Business people and residents of these areas are being allowed in to secure their premises and homes before the areas are opened to the general public this afternoon. Lesley Murdoch says the business people and residents are most concerned about rubberneckers
- caller Ron says his entire family of six has left for Australia for at least two weeks, possibly more. His Cashmere home is damaged but liveable. He has a business in the city too. He is worried about the number of people who are leaving. He says people are tired and scared and it is very hard being by oneself
- presenter Susi Maclean says her husband and children have also left town but she says it is not due to the “Moon Man” Ken Ring’s predictions of more sizeable aftershocks. She says she is incensed that he is instilling further fear in people and believes he should be “locked up”
- Sheryl Wilson, the chief executive of Kidsfirst kindergartens, which has 63 kindergartens in Canterbury and the West Coast, talking to presenter Susi Maclean about damage to kindergartens and when they are likely to reopen
- Eleanor Collings from the University of Canterbury: she is one of 300 students who are leaving Christchurch today to attend the University of Adelaide
- information about the parts of the CBD that are being reopened today is repeated
- NTZB reporter Amanda South is at a community briefing at Cuthberts Green on Pages Road. It is one of many briefings that are being held for residents of damaged areas. The meeting is about to start and she describes the mood of the people there, some of whom have been badly affected by the aftershocks
- Canterbury Principal’s Association communications officer and principal of Paparoa Street School, Phil Harding, talking to presenter Susi Maclean about the latest situation with the region’s schools
10 a.m. news bulletin presented by Tim Dower.
Headlines:
- the Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee sees a mix of old and new in the new Christchurch after criticism of his comments that all heritage buildings, other than some iconic ones, should be developed
- the Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has also mooted a Government organisation taking over the rebuild of Christchurch while the mayor of Christchurch Bob Parker says the local community must be involved
- the first community briefing has been moved indoors to Cowles Stadium due to the weather
- access to parts of the CBD is underway
- a magnitude 4.8 aftershock overnight caused more damage to the Forsyth Barr building, breaking more windows
- the death toll is still 166
Presenter Susi Maclean:
- Holmes Consulting structural engineer John Hare talking to presenter Susi McLean about people’s fears about entering multi-storey buildings again
- caller Peter (believed to be the former mayoral candidate Peter Wakeham) discusses an interview with the Labour MP Lianne Dalziel that he has heard. She has said it would have made more sense for the Christchurch City Council to give portaloos, rather than chemical toilets, to people whose grasp of the English language is not very strong. He criticises decisions the Christchurch City Council made prior to the earthquakes about where to invest money and calls the mayor of Christchurch Bob Parker undemocratic
- caller Digby from Kaikoura would like to start a conversation about using the rubble to build a hill in Hagley Park which could be grassed and provide a place for people to fly kites or watch concerts
- David Gould, managing partner at Anthony Harper Lawyers in Christchurch, talking to presenter Susi Maclean: he worked in the high-rise HSBC building in Christchurch and they were both on the ninth floor of the building when the aftershock struck. They discuss their experiences; the situation in the CBD in general and how Anthony Harper Lawyers in Christchurch is managing to continue operating from outside of its offices
- NTZB reporter Lesley Murdoch talking to presenter Susi Maclean. The first business people to be allowed to retrieve essential items from their inner city premises are being given access today. She talks about the challenges their facing and the high level of frustration
- caller Barry from Aranui talks about one of his neighbours, Tim Baker, who has organised washing machines for people to use for free both at Aranui Primary School and in his own garage. He’s also allowing people to go into his house to use his shower. Barry says Tim has been doing this since the day after the aftershock and Barry is worried Tim will face a massive power bill. He hopes something will be done to help people like Tim who are doing so much for other people
- Christchurch businessman James Harding talking to presenter Susi Maclean. He works with Susi in the city centre and talks about the damage to their business premises
- death toll is at 166 at expected to rise, possibly to 240
- there was a magnitude 4.8 aftershock last night
- NTZB reporter Amanda South talking to presenter Susi Maclean from a public meeting at Cuthbert’s Green on Pages Road. People are complaining that they couldn’t hear properly and said this demonstrated the huge void that is opening up between the community and the authorities. Most of the authorities were at the meeting (Civil Defence, police, fire, Ministry of Social Development, power company) but the Earthquake Commission (EQC) was not, and this angered some people. They complained that they had not seen the EQC since the September 4th earthquake
- the cordon around the city centre is being reduced this afternoon for the first time
11 a.m. news bulletin presented by Tim Dower.
Headlines:
- recovery work at the CTV (Canterbury Television) building is complete. The only remaining major recovery operation is at the Forsyth Barr building
- queues are lining up to enter the first part of the CBD to be opened to business people and the public. The south-west and south-east parts of the city are being opened to business people with premises in the area this morning, and to the public this afternoon
- an apartment owner in the area is worried about security, saying people’s homes are wide open to thieves
- frustration has been expressed at the first public meeting between the authorities and the public, who say the authorities do not have information that people want and they’re wondering why the Earthquake Commission (EQC) was not present
- there were seven aftershocks between 7.30pm and 11pm last night, including a magnitude 4.8 which resulted in renewed calls to emergency services with people mainly worried about their chimneys
- power is expected to be restored to 99 percent of households by tomorrow night, leaving 2000 homes in eastern suburbs without electricity which could cause heating problems as the temperatures are forecast to fall
- health authorities are relieved there has not been an outbreak of disease due to water contamination but they’re warning people to remain vigilant as the water supply won’t be clean for some time
- some University of Canterbury students have departed Christchurch to spend the first semester at the University of Adelaide
Presenter Susi Maclean:
- the Earthquake Commission’s (EQC) chief operating officer Lance Dixon talking to presenter Susi Maclean about why people aren’t seeing EQC staff the way they expect to, saying it’s because the EQC has put its normal work, the work it has been doing since the September earthquake, on hold to help the authorities deal with the emergency response. In response to criticism the EQC was not at a public meeting this morning, he says the EQC was not made aware of the public meetings and it would ensure it was at the other meetings planned for later in the week
- Suzanne from AA Insurance calls to say where the company’s mobile offices have been set up
- the owner of Centrepoint Motel on Colombo Street, Geoff Peters, talking to presenter Susi Maclean about the difficulties of having a motel business within the cordon
- Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce chief executive Peter Townsend talking to presenter Susi Maclean about what the business people who’ve been allowed access to their city centre premises today have been telling him about the damage
- NTZB reporter Lesley Murdoch talking to presenter Susi Maclean about how the first operation to enable some business people to access their central city premises has gone this morning
- staff from Placemakers and representatives of Coastguard are on all the city centre streets that are going to be opened to the public this afternoon, to secure buildings
- caller Evan Harris from Colliers Property Management says he is concerned that access is being given to parts of the city centre where there are dangerous buildings, he is concerned people are going into yellow-stickered buildings which have not been checked for structural soundness since the initial visual inspection soon after the aftershock
- caller Vanessa says Civil Defence is allowing people access to yellow-stickered buildings in the newly-opened parts of the central city, which have already been deemed unsafe by engineers hired by the building owners
- presenter Susi Maclean explains what the green, yellow and red stickers placed on buildings mean