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Guardian
Ashburton
www.guardianONLINE.co.nz
Monday, July 15, 2013
FIRST PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 27, 1879
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Quake policy sounds alarms for buildings Ashburton building owners say some of them will be forced out of business as expensive new earthquake strengthening rules are enforced. But the Ashburton District Council says it is committed to working with building owners, and may yet back down on the tough approach it has taken in its Dangerous, Earthquake Prone and Insanitary Buildings Policy. The policy, adopted by the council last year, specifies unreinforced masonry buildings built before 1976 be strengthened to 67 per cent of the new building code within five years of the owner being notified their building is earthquake prone. Other commercial and public buildings have 10 to 15 years to be strengthened within 67 per cent, while earthquake prone buildings with a low importance level such as single family dwellings, carpark and farm buildings to be strengthened to a minimum of 33 per cent. The policy is sounding alarm bells through the town’s business community as engineers’ reports are completed and reveal many buildings to be below standard. Sparrow’s clothing store on East Street is among a large number of pre-1976 buildings in Ashburton, many of which will require strengthening within the next five to 10 years in order to meet new building code requirements. Building owner Euan Sparrow said an engineer’s assessment had shown the building was “a bit short” of the new 67 per cent requirement, and it would be strengthened within the given time frame of 10 years. He believed the new earthquake standards were “a knee jerk reaction”. “It may be that a lot of businesses in Ashburton will be forced to close, because they can’t afford to bring their building up to standard,” Mr Sparrow said. Owner of the J Trevor Thomas and Co. building on Tancred Street, Merv Green, said it would cost about $500,000 to strengthen the building to 67 per cent, and he was currently getting new costings on strengthening to 33 per cent. The building, occupied until recently by Russell, Moon and Fail, dates back to the 1930s and was the base for grain agent Mr Thomas. Its future is unknown at this stage. Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers senior policy adviser Kevin Geddes said high costs of strengthening or rebuilding would come back to the community, as landlords would have to pass on costs to tenants, who would have to pass on costs to customers. The historic Federated Farmers
building is among those in Ashburton for which strengthening is being considered, but it is unknown whether it will be economically viable. He questioned the new postearthquake standards. “I think you have to ask the question - is it going to save lives in relation to the cost?” Mr Geddes said. Council building services manager Michael Wong said central government was reviewing the 67 per cent appropriate level of strengthening recommendation, and this could be lowered to 34 per cent. He hoped there would be a decision by December, and the council’s own policy could be reviewed. He was informing Mid Canterbury building owners who had contacted him that 34 per cent was adequate in the meantime. “At the moment we would like to get everybody to the 34 per cent so they are not earthquake prone, and then we have improved safety throughout our district, that would be the main goal at this stage,” Mr Wong said. “It’s sort of an unknown for everyone, and you don’t know when the next earthquake is going to hit.” The council has to date identified 99 pre-1976 buildings in Mid Canterbury as earthquake prone, after building owners have been
required to submit engineers’ assessments. Meanwhile, Ashburton’s historical ties with the past are proving to be the big loser in the town’s new post-earthquake environment. Among historic buildings in the town for which owners are weighing up strengthening or demolishing are those owned by the Redmond family. These are the Ashburton Arcade, Redmond’s furnishing store on Burnett Street, and the former Mitre 10 building on East Street, housing House of Travel and other businesses. The Arcade forms a particularly high profile spot in Ashburton’s town centre, housing a multitude of businesses, with origins going back to the town’s early years. Family member Chris Redmond said costings on strengthening the buildings had not yet been finalised. There were no plans to demolish in the near future, however in the long term costs of strengthening and insurance issues would have to be weighed against the cost of demolition and rebuilding. “If in the longer term some of those buildings do have to come down, ideally it would be really nice to be able to at least keep the facades, but then again that comes down to economics as well, it would be pretty sad to see a lot of those things disappear,” Mr Redmond said.
Photo Joseph Johnson 140713-JJ-006
Skaters flock to Staveley as rink opens About 200 skaters took to the Staveley ice skating rink when it opened at the weekend, and they included (from left) Chintamani, 6, Sanjaia, 10, and Maitreya, 13, Hesketh. Good frosts over the last week saw the ice at the rink increase in thickness allowing the rink to open. Snow yesterday softened it up a little, but it did not keep skaters away. About 100 visited on Saturday, with a similar number yesterday.
Don’t miss collectors’ edition I
n two weeks today your first new look Guardian will drop on your drive way. Most noticeable will be the news compact size compared to the larger broadsheet format of the current Monday to Friday editions. The second exciting discovery will be the historical collectors’ edition you fill receive with the Guardian to celebrate this historic day. Make sure you not miss this unique liftout which will have indepth coverage of the history of the district and its daily newspaper. The change to a compact format follows a world-wide trend
Coen Lammers editor
and extensive research overseas, around New Zealand and in Mid Canterbury which has shown that readers overwhelmingly prefer the more convenient, modern compact size. Readers of the Guardian have been familiar with our compact weekend edition and we are finally able to offer you this
more popular format six days a week. The compact edition will give our readers twice the number of pages and on Monday July 29 you will find several expanded sections like opinion, a full puzzle page and a two-page spread with weekend photos. The Monday paper will still include a comprehensive news, world, travel, classifieds and sport section but you will also find additional features like our new page 2 that is made up by lighter news stories and a daily events guide. You will also find the Your Place section which includes a daily quiz, a daily quick meal recipe
and pictures from the readers. The countdown is truly on and we hope our readers will be as excited as the team at the Guardian.
Da
By Susan Sandys
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