Seeing the benefits of flood protection

By Anne Galloway and Chrys Horn

We’ve seen some big floods around New Zealand over the last couple of months – one of them right here in Canterbury in early June when record amounts of rain fell in some areas, breaking the drought that we had had up until that time. 

As our city grows, our houses get bigger and our yards get more asphalted, there are few places for the rain to go.  For those living in the lower reaches of the Ōtākaro/Avon and the Ōpāwaho /Heathcote rivers, having the water rushing off the hard surfaces and into our river systems has been increasingly problematic.  Add to that that we are a low lying city that is part of the Waimakariri River flood plain, that became even lower in places during the earthquakes and it is clear that flooding is one of our greatest risks as a city.

For some years now the Council has been putting in infrastructure to ensure good amounts of green space and water retention.  We’ve seen a lot of these facilities going in around Aidanfield, Wigram, Nga Puna Wai, Longhurst, Knights Stream, Kennedys Bush and in Hendersons Rd - Cashmere Rd - Sparks Rd area.  Some of them have also become increasingly attractive areas for walking and biking as the planting takes hold and gains height – the Quarry and the Sparks Road Wetland are examples.  Some areas are still being built.

Our last flood tested this infrastructure and over all the Council are very pleased with how the retention areas around Halswell worked.   While some flooding occurred along Sparks Road where construction of retention areas is still in progress, millions of litres of water were held back in areas where the water was meant to be held and places that often flood (Hendersons road between Sparks and Cashmere Road, for example) did not.

Along with protecting the new housing going on in the area and protecting those in the lower reaches of the Ōpāwaho Heathcote, all this development has some added amenity benefits (as the walkers and bikers in our new wetland areas will attest) and will capture a lot of sediment thus improving water quality in the Ōpāwaho river system – something that will make life better for the plants, insects, fish and eels that live in the river.    

Exciting opportunity to join a vibrant community office space at the Halswell Community Hub

Halswell Community Hub are looking for local businesses, organisations or groups to join us in our Community Office Space.

Halswell Community Hub has been operating for nearly 4 years in what was the Old Halswell Library and is now a thriving community space used by many many groups and organisations. It is a great place to work and a great place to connect.

We are in a great location on the junction of Halswell Road and Sparks Road with off street car parking and everything you need on your doorstep.

Due to some recent changes we now have office space available for the right person, group or organisation.

If you are community minded, keen to connect with local people and groups or are looking for a place to work from, get in touch.

We have a space with 2 desks that would be ideal for either a small organisation with 2 people or for 2 people working individually. 

With approximately 11.5m2 there is plenty of space for storage whether that be filing cabinets or small cupboards.

Included in the price is your Power; Unlimited Internet; Use of communal facilities (toilets, kitchen) and Use of our interview room (shared between tenants so fair use applies)

Contact Kate or Keri at halswellhub@gmail.com for more information or to arrange a viewing 😊

 

100 DAYS OF SUMMER

 by Chrys Horn

100 Days of Summer is a little brochure that provides 100 great ideas for families interested in exploring Christchurch outdoors. 

Miria Goodwin and her twin sister Anneke Beardsley put the booklet together to help people enjoy the physical and mental health benefits of being outdoors.  Getting outdoors is great for children’s brain development, for social connection and for fostering a connection to nature. 

They aim to encourage people of all stripes to do more outside this summer and enjoy all the many beautiful places Canterbury has to offer.  The guide is also easy to read and carry, and provides a daily pointer that suits all ages.

 

Among the many suggestions are hugging a tītoki tree, looking for dolphins off Godley Head, searching for street art in the city, checking out the Sparks Road Wetlands or visiting the Prebbleton Nature Reserve, or watching model yachts at Halswell Domain.

You can pick up a copy of 100 Days of Summer at any Christchurch City Library or Council Service Centre.

If you are looking for things to do, you might also check out this post for some local ideas.

I wonder if we could come up with  50 free things you can do to explore Halswell?   All ideas gratefully received below in the comments!

Statistics from the last Census

As most people are aware, 2013 was the year of our last national Census.  Results are still coming out but many came out at the end of last year.

Two infographics that may be of interest are:
This one looking at changes since the last Census in 2006 and presenting them as if New Zealand were a village of 100 people, and

This one about the changes to Greater Christchurch (Christchurch City, Selwyn District, and Waimakariri) post earthquakes.


Christchurch City Council have also put together some of the Census information for Halswell.  You can look at it on this page on the Halswell Community Website.

Of interest is:

• The main growth has happened in Aidanfield, Westmorland and Halswell on the Park.  
• There are  a similar number of people aged less than 15 compared with the rest New Zealand. 
• There are fewer single people living here than in the rest of Christchurch and NZ.
• We are not a very diverse lot - with a high number of Europeans and low numbers of other groups (Maori, Pacific or Asian).
• Overall, we are a very well off community:  the mean household  AND mean personal income in Halswell is well above that of both Christchurch and New Zealand.
• 52 percent of people are in full time employment compared with 48% for the whole of New Zealand
• Relatively few people living here are renting and rents are high compared to the rest of Christchurch and there are a lot of large houses here compared with the rest of the country.
• 87% of us have internet access (compared with only 79% across NZ)

Find out more by checking out the link above.  Another good place to look at information is here where you can play around with a map and check out figures for all the area units around Halswell.

At this stage I haven't managed to work out exactly how many people were living here on Census night in 2013! Watch this space of work it out for yourself and write a comment about it below.

You may also be interested in some of the recent research that has been completed around Halswell and which you can find on this page on our website.