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Author: Simon Britten

Inaugural Community Board meeting: 6 November

The Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board will hold its inaugural meeting on Thursday 6 November 2025 at 4pm in the Papanui boardroom.

Board members will make a declaration, a chair and deputy will be elected, statutory requirements will be explained, and a date will be set for the first ordinary meeting of the board.

The meeting is open for the public to attend, and will be livestreamed on the Board’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Click through for the full agenda:
https://christchurch.infocouncil.biz/Open/2025/11/PCBCC_20251106_AGN_10691_AT_WEB.htm

Light Party: 31 October

The Neighbourhood Trust’s annual Light Party is taking place this Friday 31 October 2025 from 4:30pm to 7pm at St Albans Baptist Church. This is a free family event, with a Scavenger Hunt, Crafts, Black Light Disco, Go Carts, Face Painting, Dunking Machine, Inflatables, Sausage Sizzle and much more.

See the Facebook event for more info.

Papanui RSA to close on 8 November

The Papanui RSA has announced it will close, with a final operating date of Saturday 8 November.

Beyond that date the future for the organisation is unclear – that will be a consideration for the RSA’s executive once the wind-up of the current site is complete.

Think Papanui understands there is intent to still host an Anzac Day parade in Papanui in 2026 – stay tuned for news closer to the time.

Local elections: final results & inaugural meetings

The final declaration of results in the local election show a result consistent with the progress results published on 11 October. Victoria Henstock returns as Councillor for Papanui; while two-term deputy chair (and Think Papanui curator) Simon Britten is returned to the Community Board, joined by newcomer Ashleigh Feary.

The Council’s inaugural meeting will take place on Thursday 30 October, and the Community Board’s will be on Thursday 6 November at 4pm in the Papanui boardroom.

With Environment Canterbury (ECan), Papanui has become part of the Christchurch Central/Ōhoko Constituency. ECan Councillors elected in Central are Genevieve Robinson and Nettles Lamont, who will be sworn in at ECan’s first meeting on Wednesday 29 October.

KiwiRail signal fault impacts Papanui crossings

People moving through Papanui were caught up in a KiwiRail signal fault on Tuesday afternoon this week, with barrier arms, lights, and bells activated for an extended period of time at multiple crossings in the area.

KiwiRail has advised Think Papanui that the cause was an overloaded circuit – “Failures in train detection can trigger safety devices at multiple level crossings in the same section, even though no train is approaching“, said Chief Infrastructure Officer Siva Sivapakkiam. “A Signals Technician manually turned off the activations, with Police assisting by directing traffic. The issue was investigated and the fault resolved by 8pm.
“KiwiRail reminds the public that trains can appear at any time whether they are expected or not. Trains always have right of way and travel faster than they appear to. Safety is paramount and we strongly encourage road users to follow the signage at level crossings.”

No issues were evident when Think Papanui visited this morning (pic).