meet the candidates 2/10/25

Thursday the 2nd of October at Linwood Community Arts Centre

The prompt from the panel was as follows:

'As the Inner City East/Linwood West neighbourhoods undergo change post quake and with the emphasis on intensification the old is giving way to the new. What will you do to ensure that the needs of this still largely marginalized community will be heard and responded to, in keeping with the Council's Vision Statement of Christchurch being a city of opportunity for all.'

Here's what I said, approximately:

“To answer the prompt about this part of the central ward it’s hard to not talk about housing.

Intensification is happening, it’s to be expected. What is being built, and who is it for are some questions that need good answers.

When talking to people in this part of town the issue of “gentrification” comes up - that an area suddenly becoming more "desirable" can start impacting the cost of living for residents.

It’s true that a lot of newer housing is being built without really addressing the needs of locals who are already here. Concerns about greater amenity and beautification resulting in the area becoming more expensive to live in shouldn’t be shrugged off.

In-fill housing can also reduce green space, which we know is important for mental and physical wellbeing - for mitigating damage from significant rain events - for all sorts of reasons.

On the other hand, East Christchurch has never been treated with the same care and concern as the Fendaltons or Merivales of Christchurch. Improvements to this side of town - greater amenity, nicer streets, more desirable commercial and residential property can be a benefit so long as it doesn’t mean pricing out or displacing folks who already live here.

I’ve got concerns about a lot of new builds, A lot seem mostly designed to be AirBNBs rather than homes, not places you want to live in long term. Plus, they’re built in ways that is totally inappropriate for disabled people or the elderly.

For older people, many want to downsize - but in their own neighbourhood, into a home that is suitable for them? It’s very difficult as the housing stock isn't appropriate. You can try to downsize and end up having to look miles away, the other side of town from your community you may have lived in for decades.

Moreover, fully accessible housing is only around 2% of our entire housing stock - shockingly low.

I think a lot of people who can choose to live anywhere they want don’t always understand that for a lot of us, there are a bunch of things that limit that choice. Having to move because of costs is not fun, moving around all the time isn't fun, and this is a pretty high rental part of town too. Being forced to move for economic reasons is not really "choice".

So investment can be good, but what it is and who it serves matters. Locals should feel secure where they live.

In my opinion people-first development and investment in this part of town looks like quality public investment.

We need adequate social housing to reduce homelessness - and reduce pressure on rental prices.

We need great public transport systems so people can get where they need to go.

We need parks and all sorts of amenities.

With public services I keep it pretty clear, and talk about quality very intentionally. Nothing is too good for working people and their families.

Successful public services are the ones that are so good that everyone uses them no matter their income. There's a great saying that you can measure the success of a city not by whether the poor have cars, but whether the wealthy use public transport.

When you get that right, they’re not only great public services but they’re also secure - because while you might find politicians that are willing to cut, and slash, and cancel things that only benefit working people, it’s much harder to take things away that benefit everyone."