Hei Konei ra and keep smiling everyone!

Aaron

November 2011

Welcome to my last newsletter before the General Election on Saturday 26 November. In the last three years, I’ve met thousands of you either through my office or out and about. It has been an honour being able to help you through issues which are important to you, particularly following the earthquakes. Thank you for your support.

This newsletter focuses on law and order and updates on the rebuilding of Canterbury.

What’s been Buzzing in the Beehive?

Getting tough on law and order

National will stay tough on criminals so that children like my Blake and Evelyn can grow up safe. Over the past three years we have strengthened laws on sentencing, parole and bail; cracked down on gangs and the ‘P’ drug; put more Police on the street; tackled boy-racers; created Police Safety Orders to protect against family violence; introduced tougher sentences for crimes against children; boosted community probation; made prisons safer; and improved prisoner rehabilitation.

The result is the lowest New Zealand crime rate since 1982, but we want to keep improving. Our next steps we will make bail harder for serious criminals; impose harsher penalties for those caught, producing, trading or possessing child pornography; and tackle elder abuse, and many more. For full details of our law and order policy including other policies, go to http://www.national.org.nz/Policy.aspx. National remains committed to protecting our communities, preventing crime and putting victims first.

In the Out of Parliament Office…

The rebuilding and recovery of Canterbury continues with the announcement this month of a 17,000 seat temporary stadium to be built at the Rugby League Park in Addington by March next year, to cater for top sporting and cultural events. This is fantastic news as Cantabrians, heartbreakingly, had to miss out on the Rugby World Cup and other major events due to earthquake damage at the AMI Stadium.

More good news for the region as economic data released this month again shows steady growth in Canterbury, led by trade and manufacturing. Job advertising remains strong with benefit numbers declining.

I attended many of the Government-organised, CERA community meetings across Christchurch for recently green zoned residents. Over a thousand local people have attended them so far and it has been good to talk to many of you at the meetings. There are more meetings scheduled for this week. See www.cera.govt.nz for details.

Since my last newsletter, 417 Brooklands residential properties have been rezoned from orange to red zone. This is distressing and difficult for the Brooklands community, but the decision was based on sound engineering advice. Some are glad with the decision, whilst some others are not. The area would need to go up by about two metres in places to protect it from flooding which was made worse by the earthquakes. This means removing and rebuilding every house in the area to ensure they would be up to an insurable standard, as well as replacing all the infrastructure. This would take years to achieve and with no certainty of success. CERA will be holding community briefings for those affected soon to discuss options.

Rebuilding Canterbury a priority

Rebuilding Canterbury is one of the Government’s top priorities. There is a huge task ahead. Since the September 4th earthquake, the National-led Government have supported the people of Christchurch with:

• Help for families and businesses through packages such as $200 million wage support and job loss cover package; $6.8 million to help earthquake-affected Canterbury businesses; $4 million to help exporters reassure partners that Christchurch is open for business; $625,000 for Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism; and $10 million for social service agencies and counselling support for Cantabrians rebuilding their lives.

• Rebuilding homes – the Government is making offers to purchase all red zone properties at their latest rating valuation, to enable people to get on with their lives; and standing behind AMI policyholders with a $500 million back-up support package for AMI Insurance.

• $5.5 billion Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Fund; alliance of expert contractors working with CERA and the City Council to rebuild Christchurch’s damaged roads and underground infrastructure; 1500 places for construction-related training, including 1500 new places worth $42 million; earthquake Kiwi Bonds to help fund the recovery and provide investors with a new savings option; and $25 million for CERA over two years to help the authority lead the rebuild.

Go to www.therecovery.co.nz to see what the Government and other National MPs in Canterbury are doing to help with the earthquake recovery.

Achievements over last three years

Here’s an update on the positive outcome of the five local issues I campaigned for in 2008:

• Building of a Northern motorway – now part of the National Road of Significance programme.

• Progressing new high school options for North East Christchurch – the Ministry of Education is currently conducting an area strategy in consultation with the community following my petition of over 3,500 locals to Parliament and through to Select Committee. As a parent myself, the need for more high school options in the area is particularly critical given the earthquakes and the damage to the existing school network. The proposal was produced with the North East Secondary Education group (NESE) which is run by concerned local parents and which I helped set up.

• My proposal to vest the southern end of Brooklands Lagoon as a scenic reserve – approved, but overtaken by earthquake events.

• Reducing crime – National’s tough stance on law and order means New Zealand’s crime rate is the lowest since 1982 and is still falling.

• Boosting the economy and getting New Zealand through one of the worst global economic crisis since the Depression – despite the earthquakes, National has turned around nine years of economic mismanagement by Labour, by taking steps to move the economy away from spending and consumption and towards savings and investment. We’re focused on returning the Government’s books to surplus by 2014/15. Building a stronger economy is the only way to deliver more jobs and the higher incomes New Zealanders deserve.

But of course, all of these have been overshadowed by the earthquakes and all of the things I’ve done for that, including helping thousands of people with information and assistance.  

Out and About

On Saturday 19 November many of you attended my Housing Expo at the Burwood Christian Centre where Christchurch East residents affected by the earthquakes met and heard from representatives of local property developers to discuss upcoming land developments, builders and insurance companies as homeowners explore rebuilding options.

Aaron speaking with local residents at the Housing Expo

We also had the second phase of Project Plant on Sunday 20 November, a community plant nursery initiative started by me in May. Volunteers and I helped move plants from quake affected properties to land in Marshlands so that homeowners can rebuild or relocate over the next 12-24 months. Thank you to the Chapman family, all the volunteers and sponsors City Care and Riccarton’s Bunnings Warehouse.

Project Plant with Aaron and Hon Kate Wilkinson	Project Plant with volunteers

It was also great to speak at the recent re-opening of the Palms shopping mall and help them with getting their Christmas Parade back on track.

Aaron at the Palms shopping mall re-opening	Aaron speaking at the Palms Market Day

Until Next Time…

With the election just a few days away, you can find out more about the National Party’s policies at http://www.national.org.nz/Policy.aspx and discover for yourself why giving me your vote on Saturday will mean Christchurch East will have a strong voice in John Key’s National Party, particularly as we look to rebuild Christchurch following the earthquakes.

Don’t forget, if for whatever reason you are unable to get to a polling place on Election Day, you have until Friday 25 November to advance vote.

For locations go to http://www.elections.org.nz/voting/voting-info/christchurch-east.html

Along with voting for the 2011 General Election, this year you can also have your say on the important issue of how we elect future Parliaments by voting in a non-binding referendum. For full details go to www.referendum.org.nz. I think there are pros and cons to the current Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system and I will be voting to make changes to MMP. How you vote will be up to you and I encourage you to go the above website to find out more about the options available so that you can make an informed decision.

Thanks for all your support over the last three years. I will be casting my vote on Election Day and then spending it with family, friends and supporters, and hopefully celebrating the re-election of a John Key-led Government.

If you have any comments or views, drop me a line or an email – it would be great to hear from you.

Regards,
Aaron Gilmore

National is committed to growing our economy so we can provide more jobs and higher wages to help raise the standard of living of New Zealanders. We are doing this by providing the right economic incentives, and regulating responsibly to maintain safety and protect the environment, but without strangling businesses in red tape.

National has set out its building blocks for a stronger New Zealand economy, in a 120-point economic development action plan.

The action plan complements National’s strong and responsible finance policy to get New Zealand back into surplus within three years and to start paying down debt. Our plan details National’s commitments to building modern productive infrastructure, improving regulation, developing a skilled workforce, and investing in innovation and trade.

It is crucial that we have all our export industries working positively if we are to turn New Zealand into a more competitive economy that provides better jobs and growth for all New Zealanders.

More information: http://www.national.org.nz/PDF_General/Economic_Development_Action_Plan.pdf

National to ramp up immunisation targets

National is working hard to protect and grow our public health service. We’re focused on delivering the healthcare Kiwi families need.

By the end of 2014, National will make sure we are immunising 95 per cent of eight-month-old babies with three scheduled vaccinations. We know children are more likely to complete all vaccinations if they begin early. All babies will be automatically enrolled with a GP and WellChild provider.

Early intervention can help families get a good start and set up youngsters for a happy and healthy childhood. We will bring local maternity professionals together to regularly review births, expand the number of midwives in our voluntary bonding scheme, and grow B4 school checks. We also announced $54 million in new mother and newborn baby services in Budget 2011.

Boosting immunisation and maternity services is part of National’s special focus on children. We want to give all Kiwi kids the opportunity to succeed.

More information: http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?articleId=37601

Building confidence in the welfare system

Our welfare system is one of the most generous in the world and, under National, that safety net will always be there to help New Zealanders in need. For most people, this is a temporary support while they get back on their feet.

However, a small number see welfare as a free ride on the taxpayer, and there are those who are facing a future of life-time welfare dependency.

National will invest in helping those at risk of long-term dependency find work. There will also be a stronger, more proactive stance against those who abuse and defraud the welfare system.

Jobseekers whose recreational drug use gets in the way of a job will face having their benefit cancelled. For those with genuine addiction problems, we will help them get support to deal with their drug or alcohol addiction.

Beneficiaries on the run from the Police will have their benefit cancelled if they continue to evade Police with arrest warrants. And National will make it easier to catch fraudsters sooner by data matching with other government agencies.

More information

http://www.national.org.nz/PDF_General/Welfare_Obligations_policy.pdf

http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?articleId=37451

Safer roads under National

National is determined to keep reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads. We will invest about $620 million a year from the National Land Transport Fund to improve road safety.

Since coming to office we have focused on tackling our road toll as we work to build a safer New Zealand. We are on track for a record low road toll this year but there is still work to be done.

National will continue to make changes that build on the solid progress we have made in the past three years. We will introduce legislation to stop drivers staying on their learners and restricted licenses for long periods so they learn to drive properly. We will also introduce a tougher restricted licence test and strengthen motorcycle licence testing.

A big focus in the road safety area is making major improvements to our high-use highways through the Roads of National Significance programme. We will be investing $12.2 billion on improving the highway system across New Zealand over the next 10 years.

More information: http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?articleId=37547

National to step up trade missions

National will lead at least 28 high-level trade missions to Asian countries over the next three years to expand trade and business links.

The party’s trade policy also says National will continue to pursue high-quality trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and bilateral free-trade agreements.

Enhancing and growing New Zealand’s international trade links is a key part of National’s plan to build a stronger economy and create more jobs with higher incomes.

National has made substantial progress in improving New Zealand’s access to other countries’ markets, and we aim to build on that progress.

More information: http://national.org.nz/files/2011/Trade_policy.pdf

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has today announced the rezoning of a further 758 orange zoned properties in greater Christchurch, which means over 90 per cent of the residential orange zone has been rezoned since June.

“While some people have waited a long time, and a few are still waiting, this is progress,” Mr Brownlee said.

Of the 758 residential properties, 341 properties have been zoned green, and 417 properties have been zoned red.

Land on the 341 properties zoned green can be repaired individually. 

Houses on the green zoned land are in Department of Building and Housing (DBH)’s Technical Category 3. Homes that do not require substantial repairs due to earthquake damage are unaffected by the technical categories.

Those that do require rebuilding or substantial repair will need improved foundations, as outlined in the DBH announcement of technical categories on 28 October 2011.

In Brooklands, 417 properties have been zoned red and the Government will now make offers to purchase those properties covered by insurance.

Mr Brownlee said Brooklands suffered major land damage from the 4 September and subsequent earthquakes, and would have required area-wide land remediation to support rebuilding.

“Geotechnical work has been undertaken to identify cost-and time-effective solutions for repairing Brooklands, but the reality is that all houses would have had to be removed for the land to be fixed, regardless of their damage.

“Brooklands residents would then have to spend a significant amount of time off their land as it was remediated to provide suitable building platforms and the essential infrastructure was completely replaced. This would effectively be the same as creating a new subdivision from scratch.

“While this decision will be distressing for some, as with all red zone decisions, I’m confident we’ve made the right call for the residents of Brooklands,” Mr Brownlee said.

Public meetings will be held to ensure residents affected by today’s announcement are given the information they need, and CERA will ensure there is a face-to-face, individual contact with all red zone homeowners.

Today’s announcement leaves 908 residential properties on the plains in the orange zone. Rezoning the properties remains CERA’s highest priority along with 3700 residential properties in the Port Hills.

“As we progress with geotechnical investigations into the region’s hardest hit areas, the decisions become more and more difficult to make,” Mr Brownlee said.

“We want to make sure we make the best decision for the owners of the properties that remain orange or white and I thank them for their patience as we go about this important work.”

Today’s announcement brings the number of red zoned residential properties in Canterbury to 6540 and green zoned properties to more than 180,000. 

Residents can confirm their re-zoning by visiting www.landcheck.org.nz or phoning 0800 RING CERA (0800 7464 2372).

CERA is responsible for rebuilding greater Christchurch and its surrounds, and supporting the welfare of its residents.  For more information on today’s announcement, including maps, visit www.cera.govt.nz

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has today announced the green zoning of 8300 non-residential properties across greater Christchurch which were previously in the un-mapped white zone.

The 8300 properties are a mixture of commercial and industrial properties, Ministry of Education and District Health Board land, parks and reserves, other community facilities such as halls, churches and child care facilities, and undeveloped private land.

“The focus of land zoning to date has been on residential properties as the Government has strived to provide certainty and viable options for quake-affected families as soon as we possibly could.

“Today’s announcement clears the way for normal insurance and consenting processes to determine where rebuilding and repairs on a large number of non-residential properties can occur,” Mr Brownlee said.

“The owners of previously white zoned non-residential property needed clear guidance so they could progress using the insurance processes and consenting procedures that apply to their properties, and we’ve delivered that today.”

The rezoning effectively confirms and extends the Government’s 12 September 2011 announcement of an interim process which enabled owners of non-residential property in the white zone to begin rebuilding and repairing their property if an appropriate geotechnical report was submitted with their building consent applications.

“It is still important that all non-residential land owners covered by today’s announcement understand that specific engineering assessment of their land will be required and that such assessments may lead to detailed site-specific geotechnical investigation and foundation design,” Mr Brownlee said.

Property owners can confirm their re-zoning by visiting www.landcheck.org.nz or phoning 0800 RING CERA (0800 7464 2372).

CERA is responsible for rebuilding greater Christchurch and its surrounds, and supporting the welfare of its residents.  For more information on today’s announcement, including maps, visit www.cera.govt.nz

Christchurch East Housing Expo

When: Saturday 19 November from 10.00am to 4.00pm

Where: Burwood Christian Centre, 52-54 Bassett Street, Burwood

The expo is an opportunity for Christchurch East residents affected by the earthquakes to meet and hear from representatives of local property developers to discuss upcoming land developments, lawyers, builders and insurance companies as homeowners explore rebuilding options.

Next phase of community nursery Project Plant

When: Sunday 20 November

Where: pick up from various locations and transplanting to 266 Prestons Road, Marshland

This is the second phase of the highly successful Project Plant, the volunteer- run community plant nursery which I initiated in May.  Quake affected residents from Christchurch and Kaiapoi can transfer their treasured plants to land in Marshland while they rebuild or relocate over the next 12-24 months.  Deadline for registration is Monday 14 November.  For details please call 03 382 5701 or email projectplant@parliament.govt.nz 

Main sponsors of Project Plant:

Announcement by Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee of further land rezoning decisions for greater Christchurch

Footage of the media conference will be available after the conference online at: www.cera.govt.nz

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick update on some upcoming events in the electorate. 

CERA community meetings

CERA is holding community meetings for recently green-zoned homeowners to discuss options for rebuilding, etc.  The dates below are indicative and may be subject to change.  CERA will confirm the dates in Saturday’s Christchurch Press.  For more information see www.cera.govt.nz

Christchurch East Housing Expo 

I am hosting a housing expo on Saturday 19 November from 10am to 4pm at the Burwood Christian Centre, 52-54 Bassett Street, Burwood.  The expo is an opportunity for Christchurch East residents affected by the earthquakes to meet and hear from representatives of local property developers to discuss upcoming land developments, lawyers, builders and insurance companies as homeowners explore rebuilding options.

Next phase of community nursery Project Plant

On Sunday 20 November, we are having the second phase of the highly successful Project Plant, the volunteer-run community plant nursery which I initiated in May.  Quake affected residents from Christchurch and Kaiapoi can transfer their treasured plants to land in Marshland while they rebuild or relocate over the next 12-24 months.  Deadline for registration is Monday 14 November.  For details please call 03 382 5701 or email projectplant@parliament.govt.nz 

Advance polling now open

For those of you who will have difficulty getting to a polling station on Election Day, a reminder that you can still vote as advance polling has begun and will run until Friday 25 November in the following locations.  For more information see http://www.elections.org.nz/voting/voting-info/christchurch-east.html

Where to vote on Election Day

On Saturday 26 November you can vote at the following locations, which is open from 9am – 7pm with the busiest time normally 9am – 11am:

I  hope everyone is having a great Show weekend.  I spent today at the A&P Show at the National Party tent meeting lots of people. 

Regards,

Aaron Gilmore