‘We’re still fighting this’: Canterbury community feels abandoned by council

Residents of Goughs Bay on the Banks Peninsula believe community leaders abandoned them when they desperately needed help – follow torrential rain in December†

The event caused extensive damage, cutting off the small isolated community after the only road into the bay was washed away.

The summer storm caused chaos for the small community of Banks Peninsulaand a post-mortem event has recognized several areas of improvement for Christchurch City Council in how it responds to emergencies.

According to the report, it took about a week for Civil Defense to set up a center for emergency operations after the Flood.

READ MORE:
† Quad is still the only way to get in or out of the small bay of Banks Peninsula
† Canterbury’s Hinewai reserve scarred by slip after dramatic floods
† Isolated residents feel forgotten as homes remain without power, roads still closed, days after storm

Local resident Marie Haley said: the community felt abandoned†

“We’re still fighting this,” she said.

“We’re still trying to get a phone line, we’re still trying to be heard that we need some sort of cell phone coverage and that’s part of the fact that their (council) response was so slow.”

There was no acknowledgment of how life-threatening the situation was at the time, she said.

The report outlines a total of 18 points for improvement in the municipality’s disaster management.

Problems with communication were raised, with some residents calling the response appalling.

Sandie Stewart speculated that some of the staff may have checked out a fortnight before Christmas.

“Maybe some people who could make a difference chose Christmas lunch instead of getting their hands on the phone company and getting the phones back on track,” she said.

“Or send a generator down to see if the Wi-Fi was working.”

Not having a direct line to residents should have raised red flags for emergency services, she said.

While there are ongoing issues with phone coverage in the bay, residents are pleased with the progress in restoring Goughs Rd.

Complaints were raised by locals at a community meeting in Akaroa in May, which was factored into the council’s assessment.

George Masefield hoped the council had learned some lessons.

“I just hope it doesn’t get put in the damn drawer and left and forgotten,” he said.

Christchurch Deputy Mayor Andrew Turner said officials are underestimating the seriousness of the situation.

“Apart from a few phone calls that came to the call center, the details of the event may not have been as clear as it could have been,” he said.

He added that there are still concerns about the peninsula’s communications infrastructure.

Brenden Winder, the council’s civil defense manager, said the council needed to be more proactive about communications.

Winder said he acknowledged the residents’ disappointment, but there were other factors, including resources at the time of the event.

He said improvements have been made within the unit and it is looking at how it will interact with communities in the future, in more rural areas.