Community Briefings, 7 March 2011 2pm

• Community Briefings began yesterday, Sunday 6 March.

• Further briefings will be held on Monday and Wednesday. Detailed information is included at the end of this advisory.

• People are advised to dress appropriately for weather conditions as they will all be held outside.

Feedback from yesterday’s five community briefings was very positive. Despite inclement weather 300-500 warmly-dressed people attended each briefing.There was excellent feedback.

Speakers included representatives from National Civil Defence Controller, Police, Fire Service, Medical Officer of Health, Welfare, Ministry of Education, Orion and in the hill suburbs, geotechnical advisers.

Following the formal briefing people had a chance to talk one-to-one with the professionals who were present.

Power

• Electricity has been restored to 96 percent of properties excluding the Central Business District.

• The goal is to have power restored to 99 percent of properties by the end of today, Monday 7 March.

• This power network is fragile and breakages may occur but are being fixed as quickly as possible. Using as little power as possible is crucial.

Chemical toilets

• Forty-four disposal tanks have so far been positioned in areas where chemical toilets have been distributed. City Care will be emptying these on a regular basis.

• All toilets should be provided with instructions, however more information will be made available locally on how to dispose of the contents.

• Between 3000 – 3500 chemical toilets have been delivered to households. More chemical toilets are on the way and will be delivered to residents as they arrive. A total of 30,000 have been ordered.

• Residents are also being asked not to empty chemical toilets into portaloos as this will cause the portaloos to fill much faster than contractors can empty them, resulting in overflowing.

Cordon Reduction

• Green Zone cordons 1 & 2 are open to the public, but only for those people needing access to their property or home

• Green Zones 3 & 4 are likely to be open to the public over the next few days. New map coming.

• A plan is currently being prepared to remove vehicles from the Red Zone and Zones 3 & 4. It is expected information will be released about this on Tuesday 8 March.

Green, Yellow and Red stickered buildings within the cordons

There are slightly different processes for owners of residential or commercial buildings.

If you are a residential building owner:

And your building has a red or yellow placard:

1) We advise you to contact EQC for advice.

2) They should advise you to engage a Chartered Professional Structural Engineer (www.ipenz.co.nz) or a registered builder. You should not enter your building without them.

3) If your building has a green placard you can enter the building. If you have any concerns leave the building and contact EQC for advice.

If you are a commercial building owner

And your building has a red or yellow placard:

1) Engage a Chartered Professional Structural Engineer. You should not enter your building without them.

2) If your building has a green placard you can enter the building. If you have any concerns leave the building and contact a Chartered Professional Structural Engineer for advice (www.ipenz.co.nz).

Recovery Assistance Centres

Four hundred people were helped at the six centres yesterday, Sunday 6 March.

Two more centres will open today, Monday 7 March:

Lyttelton Recreation Centre - 25 Winchester Street, Lyttelton

Sydenham Community Centre - 23-25 Hutcheson Street, Sydenham

All Recovery Assistance Centres are open 8.30am – 5.00 pm, Monday – Friday; Saturday and Sunday 9.00am – 4.00 pm. The other centres are located at:

Linwood Community Link – 154 Aldwins Road, Linwood

Wainoni Aranui Recreation Centre – 31 Hampshire Street, Wainoni

Parklands Baptist Church – 180 Queenspark Drive, Parklands

St Faiths Hall – 46 Hawke Street, New Brighton

Nga Hau e Wha Marae – 250 Pages Road, Aranui

Shirley Rugby Club – Burwood Park, New Brighton Road, Shirley/Dallington

Welfare Centres

• Cowles Stadium Welfare Centre on Pages Road is closed.

• Welfare Centre at Pioneer Stadium remains open. Ninety-two people stayed overnight (there is capacity for 150 people).

Water

• Town Supply water must still be boiled before using even if it has been chlorinated.

• Water has been restored to 81% of households.

Sewage

• An estimated 50% of households can use toilets.

• If you have running water you can flush the toilet sparingly.

• There are some portaloos in areas with water but these are not removed until we are sure the sewerage system in that area is working. This may take several days. There is a servicing regime around cleaning and emptying portaloos.

• Some residents who have received chemical toilets have reported difficulties in understanding how to operate these. Civil Defence is working with the manufacturers to provide affected residents with information about correct use of chemical toilets and will make this available as soon as possible.

Urban Search and Rescue Teams

• 150 teams are still deployed, evenly balanced between national and international members.

Defence

One thousand personnel deployed around Christchurch. Helicopters are providing security services, particularly over the Central Business District.

Silt removal

• Removal of the bulk of the remaining silt is expected to finish today. Collection of smaller amounts around the city will continue.

Building Assessments

• 70,520 households have been assessed; 2198 have been red stickered.

EQC Claims

• To date, 41,191 claims have been received following the earthquake on 22 February.

Rubbish Collection

• Christchurch City currently faces an increased risk of disease and vermin.

• The risk is a result of: waste material around vacant houses, broken food containers, and the amount of wastewater entering the Avon and Heathcote Rivers

• 7-11 March green and red bins will be collected throughout the city regardless what day is your usual rubbish collection

• Yellow bins will be collected on your usual day

• Residents are asked to assist their neighbourhood by moving bins with waste material in them from vacant households to the kerbside, and returning them to the right houses when emptied

• Bricks and rubble and other demolition material will not be collected through a kerbside collection.

Schools

Please continue to check www.minedu.govt.nz for the most up-to-date information.

Schedule of Community Briefings

Monday 7 March 2011

12.30 pm McCormacks Bay Reserve (Eastern side of reserve)

Residents of Mt Pleasant, Redcliffs, St Andrews Hill, Balmoral Hill, Moncks Spur

3 pm Sumner School Grounds (Colenso Street)

Residents of Moncks Bay, Clifton, Richmond Hill, Sumner, Scarborough.

5.30 pm Note: Change of venue

Grassy area above Lyttelton Main School in Oxford Street

Residents of Lyttelton and harbour settlements through to Rapaki

Wednesday 9 March 2011

9.30 am Richmond Park – Poulton Avenue.

Residents of Dallington, Avonside & Richmond

12 Noon Parklands Reserve

Residents of Burwood, Parklands, Waimairi Beach.

2 pm Rawhiti Domain – access off Keyes Road.

Residents of North New Brighton, New Brighton, Bexley

4 pm South New Brighton Park – Jellicoe Street.

Residents of South Brighton, Southshore

ENDS

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