Think Papanui’s curator Simon Britten rounds up stories from the past week:
Last week I discussed Think Papanui’s origins with Jesse Mulligan on RNZ National’s Afternoons programme. Click through for a link to the audio.
The Orbiter bus service now uses bus stops on Cranford Street, and perhaps it’s the increase in patronage in that area that’s prompted the Council to undertake some improvements (pic).
The City Council’s wheelie bin stock-take has been completed. I shared the Council’s article advising that untagged bins will no longer be collected.
Last Friday’s joint Community Board decision on the plan to manage traffic downstream of the Christchurch Northern Corridor was the subject of a Council Newsline article and a number of social media posts. Having attended the meeting I published a recap and some thoughts on what the outcome means.
A progress photo of the expansion of the Papanui Mitre 10 store on the former Sanitarium site came close to taking out top post of the week. Keep an eye out for an upcoming Think Papanui promotion that will be supported by the store.
Top post was the news that from July the Papanui Council service centre will add bill payment and vehicle transactions to the current postal services available. This fills a gap created by the closure of the Papanui NZ Post branch at the end of January.
I published a reminder that feedback closes soon on the Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection proposals. A record-breaking volume of feedback is being submitted by the community.
On the frosty 5th of June there was a big turnout at the Papanui Bush planting and weeding day. I couldn’t stay for long, but was able to pull a few weeds and shoot a brief video of the occasion.
An article in this week’s Nor’West News describes a ‘war of words’ and the walkout of a Board member at the last meeting of the Waipapa/Papanui-Innes Community Board.
I was surprised to learn this week that there haven’t been sufficient nominations for the Papanui High School Board of Trustees to trigger a vote – in previous years I recall a large number of nominees vying for the five positions available. (Voting will have closed at noon today 7 June for those schools holding an election.)
The third in a series of articles on the history of the Papanui Firestone factory was published this week, drawing on the memories of Papanui Ward local Trevor Newton.
Labour-aligned People’s Choice have selected two candidates to contest the Papanui Ward Community Board and Council seats in this year’s election. Nathan McCluskey and Merav Benaia join the three incumbents and me in the race. Nominations open on 19 July and the election date is 12 October.
The Star has reported this week that the Christchurch Northern Corridor’s QEII Drive overpass needs to be deconstructed and then rebuilt, once additional stabilisation work has been carried out
Closing soon:
Remember to have your say on the Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection proposals by Monday 10 June.
Coming up:
The Redwood Business & Residents group has its next meeting this Tuesday 11 June at 7pm.
The plan to manage traffic downstream of the Christchurch Northern Corridor will be on the agenda of the 13 June meeting of the full Council. Will the Council follow the recommendations made by the Community Boards? The agenda for the Council meeting will be available on this page, and a live stream of the meeting will be available here.
The Waipapa/Papanui-Innes Community Board will meet next Friday 14 June at 9am. The meeting is open for the public to attend, and once the agenda is published I’ll share highlights on Think Papanui.
Feedback is always welcome on Think Papanui’s content, either on Facebook or Instagram, or directly to me.
With warm regards
Simon Britten