Thursday 26 July 2012
Monday 28 May 2012
Creating your GoodNews story
I'm a bit of a 'glass half full' type of girl and always try to see the positive outcome of every situation.
While I'm superbly optimistic, I'm also realistic too. It's half-full now, but how do we keep on topping it up?
Unfortunately in our society, it's the story where the glass is half empty that sells. Folks love sensationalism. Folks love a good story about a building being burnt down, despite remembering vaguely that there was potentially a lot of controversy surrounding that building in the first place and the fact that in reality, now that ugly building is gone, we can have something newer, better, stronger and built with a purpose in mind in its place.
Despite my best efforts, not-so-good news stories keep escaping our village and the rest of the world's impression of How Life Is in Greater Brighton isn't always as great as our own.
So on Saturday morning I turned over a new leaf.
I'm going to seek out those GoodNews stories and if I can't find them, I'm going to create them!
Help us put Brighton in the media in a positive light- help us Brighton UP! take part, engage, be a part of something random and beautiful, make wee gifts for your neighbour, talk to people at bus-stops, come down and help us fill in those gaps , create a litter-picking or graffiti-painting-out brigade in your street, host a street party ~ whatever you do, do two things: tell us & tell the media:
While I'm superbly optimistic, I'm also realistic too. It's half-full now, but how do we keep on topping it up?
Unfortunately in our society, it's the story where the glass is half empty that sells. Folks love sensationalism. Folks love a good story about a building being burnt down, despite remembering vaguely that there was potentially a lot of controversy surrounding that building in the first place and the fact that in reality, now that ugly building is gone, we can have something newer, better, stronger and built with a purpose in mind in its place.
Despite my best efforts, not-so-good news stories keep escaping our village and the rest of the world's impression of How Life Is in Greater Brighton isn't always as great as our own.
So on Saturday morning I turned over a new leaf.
I'm going to seek out those GoodNews stories and if I can't find them, I'm going to create them!
What's your GoodNews story?
Help us put Brighton in the media in a positive light- help us Brighton UP! take part, engage, be a part of something random and beautiful, make wee gifts for your neighbour, talk to people at bus-stops, come down and help us fill in those gaps , create a litter-picking or graffiti-painting-out brigade in your street, host a street party ~ whatever you do, do two things: tell us & tell the media:
WE LOVE BRIGHTON!
Monday 14 May 2012
Places of Tranquility
Imagine the tranquility of a Japanese garden, a Buddhist fountain meditation area, a walking meditation circle or a Korean undulating park and playground. Or perhaps a green maze leading to area of contemplation, a place of tranquility and stillness amidst the chaos and impact of the disaster that has afflicted Christchurch.
Healthy Christchurch invites you to be involved in creating one of six gardens of beauty and peace to fill in some of the gray demolition sites across Christchurch.
Renew Brighton would like to bring one of the Places of Tranquility to our community. Do you know of a spare piece of land adjacent to the river where one of these gardens could be created?
This is an opportunity to join in with government organisations, community organisations and Lincoln University students to create at least six places that are influenced by your traditions, cultures and spiritual philosophies. This will ensure that your communities' voice and presence is more visible in the rebuild of our city.
Learn more and sign up to be involved in this exciting and innovative project.
Healthy Christchurch invites you to be involved in creating one of six gardens of beauty and peace to fill in some of the gray demolition sites across Christchurch.
Renew Brighton would like to bring one of the Places of Tranquility to our community. Do you know of a spare piece of land adjacent to the river where one of these gardens could be created?
This is an opportunity to join in with government organisations, community organisations and Lincoln University students to create at least six places that are influenced by your traditions, cultures and spiritual philosophies. This will ensure that your communities' voice and presence is more visible in the rebuild of our city.
Learn more and sign up to be involved in this exciting and innovative project.
Thursday 10 May 2012
Sunday 6 May 2012
It's all about Democracy
According to Wikipedia
Council engage the community in Direct Democracy by inviting folk to Have Your Say and currently we have the opportunity to let Council know what we think about the Draft Annual Plan.
Shortly, though, we will be given the opportunity to engage right at the beginning of the process of creating the New Brighton Masterplan at a series of workshops Council will be presenting. Coming up at the beginning of July, there'll be workshops for business owners, landowners and community groups along with some public drop-in sessions, too. This process, referred to as Enquiry by Design takes place in many disciplines, including land use planning, or urban planning, and has become a technique for consulting with all stakeholders. This typically involves intense and possibly multi-day meetings, involving municipal officials, developers, and residents. Successful Enquiry by Design promotes joint ownership of solutions and attempts to defuse typical confrontational attitudes between residents and developers. Residents who do participate get early input into the planning process. For developers and municipal officials these workshops achieve community involvement and may satisfy consultation criteria, with the objective of avoiding costly legal battles.
They hope to identify any problems or issues the community think there might be.
Once the workshops have taken place, a Draft Masterplan will be created followed by twelve weeks of consultation.
The New Brighton Masterplan will refer to the New Brighton Central Business District, or, The Mall.
Christchurch, currently, is all about democracy. It seems if you don't like something you can simply create a petition. A successful example of this might be the Avon Otakaro Network's Avon River Park petition, presented at parliament last week, but new petitions include the Petition for Affordable Social Housing , the Petition to extend the April 2013 Deadline in the Red Zone , and the Christchurch Rates Relief group who are petitioning Christchurch City Council for 100% rates relief for owners of uninhabitable homes due to earthquake damage.
But as Direct Democracy goes, you can't get any more direct. This is your chance to get involved. Put your thinking cap on and watch this space to find out more about how you can get involved in positive change in your community.
Direct democracy (or pure democracy) is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Depending on the particular system in use, it might entail passing executive decisions, making laws, directly electing or dismissing officials and conducting trials. Two leading forms of direct democracy are Participatory democracy and Deliberative democracy.
Council engage the community in Direct Democracy by inviting folk to Have Your Say and currently we have the opportunity to let Council know what we think about the Draft Annual Plan.
Shortly, though, we will be given the opportunity to engage right at the beginning of the process of creating the New Brighton Masterplan at a series of workshops Council will be presenting. Coming up at the beginning of July, there'll be workshops for business owners, landowners and community groups along with some public drop-in sessions, too. This process, referred to as Enquiry by Design takes place in many disciplines, including land use planning, or urban planning, and has become a technique for consulting with all stakeholders. This typically involves intense and possibly multi-day meetings, involving municipal officials, developers, and residents. Successful Enquiry by Design promotes joint ownership of solutions and attempts to defuse typical confrontational attitudes between residents and developers. Residents who do participate get early input into the planning process. For developers and municipal officials these workshops achieve community involvement and may satisfy consultation criteria, with the objective of avoiding costly legal battles.
They hope to identify any problems or issues the community think there might be.
Once the workshops have taken place, a Draft Masterplan will be created followed by twelve weeks of consultation.
The New Brighton Masterplan will refer to the New Brighton Central Business District, or, The Mall.
Christchurch, currently, is all about democracy. It seems if you don't like something you can simply create a petition. A successful example of this might be the Avon Otakaro Network's Avon River Park petition, presented at parliament last week, but new petitions include the Petition for Affordable Social Housing , the Petition to extend the April 2013 Deadline in the Red Zone , and the Christchurch Rates Relief group who are petitioning Christchurch City Council for 100% rates relief for owners of uninhabitable homes due to earthquake damage.
But as Direct Democracy goes, you can't get any more direct. This is your chance to get involved. Put your thinking cap on and watch this space to find out more about how you can get involved in positive change in your community.
Wednesday 2 May 2012
Greater Brighton? Count Me In!
Kia ora koutou,
Once again, it's been a busy few weeks in the media with decisions and announcements being made regularly.
As a community we had the opportunity to bid farewell, kia pai te haere and good luck to the Avon Otakaro petition as it made its voyage up the Avon and on to parliament where our MP Lianne Dalziel presented it. This incredible journey of community in action will bring us all one step closer to recovery. The number of signatures is testament to both the incredible amount of work that was put into this project and the value this park will bring to our community and our city.
It has been incredibly well supported, let's hope it is well received at parliament.
______________________________________________________________________________________
What have we been up to?
Greater Brighton? Count Me In!
Recently Renew Brighton held another Community Network Forum where a project group was formed by volunteers from many different community organisations to steer a Greater Brighton Community Research Project. In analysing our community's assets and needs we will be able to present this information to planners and investors to help create a successful community-led recovery plan and as a community, work in partnership with Council in the revitalisation of Greater Brighton.
Greater Brighton is not just a concept, it's an area, a village; it's our community and it reaches from Southshore to North Shore and is bound by the river, swamp and sea. Once the red-zone returns to green, Greater Brighton will be almost an island; a destination for many and a place for us to live, work, play and shop. It is hoped that the information gathered in this research project will help us walk towards our shared vision: Greater Brighton celebrated as a thriving, vibrant, self-reliant village.
Over the next month the team working will be working on developing the questionnaire; if you're interested in getting involved, we will be looking for other volunteers to help make this community-led project a success ~ Email me!
Brighton UP
There are many gaps opening up in the Mall as buildings are inspected and found unsafe or uneconomic to repair. This is progress. The buildings need demolishing before they can be replaced! In between times, though, it does mean there are a couple of ugly gaps that need some love! Renew Brighton member, Nikki Griffin was given permission to use vacant mall space (where Jackson's Bakery used to be), so last week, we arranged a meeting with the experts on temporary installations in urban spaces: Gap Filler along with Greening the Rubble and New Brighton Project to find out more about how we can Brighton UP! Both Gap Filler and Greening the Rubble gave us all sorts of tips as well as offering us their future support. What's next? Well: it's up to you! Come along to the Mall at 1030am Saturday 19th May and share your ideas for Brighton's very own gap filling project: Brighton UP.
If you're an artist or a crafter you'll probably be interested in this idea: Street Confetti ~ beautiful, temporary installations- a little bit whimsical and a lot of fun. Let's give this our support; As part of Renew Brighton's Brighton UP, we'd like to invite you to take part in an amazing opportunity to showcase your crafting and artistic talents. ~ Email me to get involved!
You probably remember over the summer months a hugely enthusiastic team of volunteers got together to get rid of the graffiti in our business district. We had so much fun, we're going to do it again. If you want to join Renew Brighton's Environmental Management Team and help us take care of our village you know what you have to do: ~ email me! If painting's not your thing, there'll also be the chance to help pick up litter and weed weedy plots. The great thing about volunteering in one of our projects is that you're guaranteed that while you're making a difference, you'll also be making some friends.
Neighbourhood Networks
The first time I met and communicated with many of my neighbours was on that sunny morning of 4th September. In our dressing gowns we shared coffee and offered each other support. I know, since then, that many folk have moved and so, once again the neighbourhood has changed. I still have many friends in my street and I feel good knowing that that they care for my wellbeing. How about you? How's life on your street? Renew Brighton would like to help you to strengthen relationships in your street. Help us to help you while helping others and become part of a community-wide neighbourhood network. Imagine if every street in Greater Brighton has someone who looks after the street's wellbeing~ someone who knows everyone, or who's not afraid to introduce themselves. Someone who would inspire street parties or picnics. Someone who'd welcome new arrivals and farewell the departures. We're looking for that someone- is that someone you? (Or maybe, if that someone lives next door to you you could print & pass this renewsletter on...)
There are many ways we can all help contribute to our community's recovery. If you've got any ideas, simple or wild, email me and we'll see what we can do to help you help us!
______________________________________________________________________________________
Recovery
Tsunami Sirens being installed
A series of five community meetings are being held next month for residents to learn more about the tsunami risk off coastal Christchurch and the new tsunami warning system.
These meetings will be held:
Wednesday 9 May at 7.30pm South Brighton Surf Club, Marine Parade (near Bridge Street) South Brighton
Thursday 10 May at 5.30pm and 7.30pm, North Beach Surf Club, 80 Marine Parade (near Leaver Terrace), North Beach
TC3 Land Announcements
A week of announcements for both TC3 and TC2 property owners, most of which is too technical for me, but very relevant to us all. I've made an exception and attached documents from CERA, DBH and EQC for TC3 landowners to print and share. Please, help us to help you by encouraging your neighbours and community groups to subscribe to this newsletter so we can share this information more readily.
Temporary Accommodation
This service is for Canterbury householders who need help finding temporary accommodation following the September 2010 / February and June 2011 earthquakes. The Temporary Accommodation Service provides:Temporary accommodation matching, Earthquake support coordination, Financial assistance
Householders who need help finding emergency accommodation are encouraged to contact us on 0800 67 32 27.
After reading this article on stuff.co.nz this week I realised that it's not just the humans that are having problems finding homes- pets are too. Is there anything you can do to help? Perhaps your home may not be big enough to house a whole family, but you might be able to temporarily accommodate someone's pet. Let us know, maybe we can set something up!
Feeling stressed??? Staff finding it tough going???
Thanks to a dollop of funding from the Ministry of Economic Development Recover Canterbury can now offer a free workplace support service for Canterbury businesses. You can use it for individual support for business owners or employees or support for your wider team. Find out more at the link or give them a calll on 0800 50 50 96.
Help Repair North New Brighton School
Their School pool is in need of major repairs after suffering damage in the February quake, please support us while we raise the funds needed for repair. Join their facebook page and get involved.
Revitalisation
Council's Draft Annual Plan is currently on tour. This afternoon you can see it at the North New Brighton Memorial Hall from 2-6pm, or, why not drop into one of the other centres. You can also Have Your Say, make a submission online- this is your chance to tell our Council that as a community we deserve to have QE2 rebuilt exactly where it is, amongst other things.
Want to Keep QEII in the East?
Join the facebook page that's the driving force behind this campaign and pop down to Candles of Hope, Thursday 10th May 5-7pm, QEII Village Green.
In our Backyard
Entré, SVA and VAF have combined to introduce a new and exciting competition: "In Our Backyard." Get involved in the rebuild of Christchurch!
They have six plots of land around Christchurch and they want you, the students, to use your creative and innovative talent to design a use for one of these plots of land. There will be six winners who will be given $500 and a team of volunteers to execute the design.
Applications open on Monday the 14th of May - come along to the Undercroft to hear how you can sweeten up Christchurch, and grab a free gelato while you're there! 5.30pm-6.30pm. Applications close Tuesday the 29th of May.
Got a project, need some volunteers?
Award winning volunteer co-ordinators, the Volunteer Army Foundation will soon be looking for projects to send their volunteers to. They've created The Concert, a gig where the only way you can get hold of a ticket is to volunteer. The website will go live in a few weeks and will be looking for projects all over the city to get their volunteers into, so get your thinking caps on! The good news is, if you want to go to the concert, you don't have to be a student! All you need to do is to volunteer 5 hours and that ticket will be yours...
That, folks, is another renewsletter wrapped up. I know this information will be relevant to every single member of our community. Please forward this email, or better yet, encourage your network to subscribe. Renew Brighton also has a facebook page where information and upbeat recovery news and insights are posted daily. Even if facebook isn't your thing, I know recovery and seeing your Brighton renewed is.
Nga mihi,
Rebecca May
Volunteer Community Co-ordinator
Once again, it's been a busy few weeks in the media with decisions and announcements being made regularly.
As a community we had the opportunity to bid farewell, kia pai te haere and good luck to the Avon Otakaro petition as it made its voyage up the Avon and on to parliament where our MP Lianne Dalziel presented it. This incredible journey of community in action will bring us all one step closer to recovery. The number of signatures is testament to both the incredible amount of work that was put into this project and the value this park will bring to our community and our city.
It has been incredibly well supported, let's hope it is well received at parliament.
______________________________________________________________________________________
What have we been up to?
Greater Brighton? Count Me In!
Recently Renew Brighton held another Community Network Forum where a project group was formed by volunteers from many different community organisations to steer a Greater Brighton Community Research Project. In analysing our community's assets and needs we will be able to present this information to planners and investors to help create a successful community-led recovery plan and as a community, work in partnership with Council in the revitalisation of Greater Brighton.
Greater Brighton is not just a concept, it's an area, a village; it's our community and it reaches from Southshore to North Shore and is bound by the river, swamp and sea. Once the red-zone returns to green, Greater Brighton will be almost an island; a destination for many and a place for us to live, work, play and shop. It is hoped that the information gathered in this research project will help us walk towards our shared vision: Greater Brighton celebrated as a thriving, vibrant, self-reliant village.
Over the next month the team working will be working on developing the questionnaire; if you're interested in getting involved, we will be looking for other volunteers to help make this community-led project a success ~ Email me!
Brighton UP
There are many gaps opening up in the Mall as buildings are inspected and found unsafe or uneconomic to repair. This is progress. The buildings need demolishing before they can be replaced! In between times, though, it does mean there are a couple of ugly gaps that need some love! Renew Brighton member, Nikki Griffin was given permission to use vacant mall space (where Jackson's Bakery used to be), so last week, we arranged a meeting with the experts on temporary installations in urban spaces: Gap Filler along with Greening the Rubble and New Brighton Project to find out more about how we can Brighton UP! Both Gap Filler and Greening the Rubble gave us all sorts of tips as well as offering us their future support. What's next? Well: it's up to you! Come along to the Mall at 1030am Saturday 19th May and share your ideas for Brighton's very own gap filling project: Brighton UP.
If you're an artist or a crafter you'll probably be interested in this idea: Street Confetti ~ beautiful, temporary installations- a little bit whimsical and a lot of fun. Let's give this our support; As part of Renew Brighton's Brighton UP, we'd like to invite you to take part in an amazing opportunity to showcase your crafting and artistic talents. ~ Email me to get involved!
You probably remember over the summer months a hugely enthusiastic team of volunteers got together to get rid of the graffiti in our business district. We had so much fun, we're going to do it again. If you want to join Renew Brighton's Environmental Management Team and help us take care of our village you know what you have to do: ~ email me! If painting's not your thing, there'll also be the chance to help pick up litter and weed weedy plots. The great thing about volunteering in one of our projects is that you're guaranteed that while you're making a difference, you'll also be making some friends.
Neighbourhood Networks
The first time I met and communicated with many of my neighbours was on that sunny morning of 4th September. In our dressing gowns we shared coffee and offered each other support. I know, since then, that many folk have moved and so, once again the neighbourhood has changed. I still have many friends in my street and I feel good knowing that that they care for my wellbeing. How about you? How's life on your street? Renew Brighton would like to help you to strengthen relationships in your street. Help us to help you while helping others and become part of a community-wide neighbourhood network. Imagine if every street in Greater Brighton has someone who looks after the street's wellbeing~ someone who knows everyone, or who's not afraid to introduce themselves. Someone who would inspire street parties or picnics. Someone who'd welcome new arrivals and farewell the departures. We're looking for that someone- is that someone you? (Or maybe, if that someone lives next door to you you could print & pass this renewsletter on...)
There are many ways we can all help contribute to our community's recovery. If you've got any ideas, simple or wild, email me and we'll see what we can do to help you help us!
______________________________________________________________________________________
Recovery
Tsunami Sirens being installed
A series of five community meetings are being held next month for residents to learn more about the tsunami risk off coastal Christchurch and the new tsunami warning system.
These meetings will be held:
Wednesday 9 May at 7.30pm South Brighton Surf Club, Marine Parade (near Bridge Street) South Brighton
Thursday 10 May at 5.30pm and 7.30pm, North Beach Surf Club, 80 Marine Parade (near Leaver Terrace), North Beach
TC3 Land Announcements
A week of announcements for both TC3 and TC2 property owners, most of which is too technical for me, but very relevant to us all. I've made an exception and attached documents from CERA, DBH and EQC for TC3 landowners to print and share. Please, help us to help you by encouraging your neighbours and community groups to subscribe to this newsletter so we can share this information more readily.
Temporary Accommodation
This service is for Canterbury householders who need help finding temporary accommodation following the September 2010 / February and June 2011 earthquakes. The Temporary Accommodation Service provides:Temporary accommodation matching, Earthquake support coordination, Financial assistance
Householders who need help finding emergency accommodation are encouraged to contact us on 0800 67 32 27.
After reading this article on stuff.co.nz this week I realised that it's not just the humans that are having problems finding homes- pets are too. Is there anything you can do to help? Perhaps your home may not be big enough to house a whole family, but you might be able to temporarily accommodate someone's pet. Let us know, maybe we can set something up!
Feeling stressed??? Staff finding it tough going???
Thanks to a dollop of funding from the Ministry of Economic Development Recover Canterbury can now offer a free workplace support service for Canterbury businesses. You can use it for individual support for business owners or employees or support for your wider team. Find out more at the link or give them a calll on 0800 50 50 96.
Help Repair North New Brighton School
Their School pool is in need of major repairs after suffering damage in the February quake, please support us while we raise the funds needed for repair. Join their facebook page and get involved.
Revitalisation
Council's Draft Annual Plan is currently on tour. This afternoon you can see it at the North New Brighton Memorial Hall from 2-6pm, or, why not drop into one of the other centres. You can also Have Your Say, make a submission online- this is your chance to tell our Council that as a community we deserve to have QE2 rebuilt exactly where it is, amongst other things.
Want to Keep QEII in the East?
Join the facebook page that's the driving force behind this campaign and pop down to Candles of Hope, Thursday 10th May 5-7pm, QEII Village Green.
In our Backyard
Entré, SVA and VAF have combined to introduce a new and exciting competition: "In Our Backyard." Get involved in the rebuild of Christchurch!
They have six plots of land around Christchurch and they want you, the students, to use your creative and innovative talent to design a use for one of these plots of land. There will be six winners who will be given $500 and a team of volunteers to execute the design.
Applications open on Monday the 14th of May - come along to the Undercroft to hear how you can sweeten up Christchurch, and grab a free gelato while you're there! 5.30pm-6.30pm. Applications close Tuesday the 29th of May.
Got a project, need some volunteers?
Award winning volunteer co-ordinators, the Volunteer Army Foundation will soon be looking for projects to send their volunteers to. They've created The Concert, a gig where the only way you can get hold of a ticket is to volunteer. The website will go live in a few weeks and will be looking for projects all over the city to get their volunteers into, so get your thinking caps on! The good news is, if you want to go to the concert, you don't have to be a student! All you need to do is to volunteer 5 hours and that ticket will be yours...
That, folks, is another renewsletter wrapped up. I know this information will be relevant to every single member of our community. Please forward this email, or better yet, encourage your network to subscribe. Renew Brighton also has a facebook page where information and upbeat recovery news and insights are posted daily. Even if facebook isn't your thing, I know recovery and seeing your Brighton renewed is.
Nga mihi,
Rebecca May
Volunteer Community Co-ordinator
Wednesday 25 April 2012
Give me: 50 Things we LOVE about New Brighton!
This week I've arranged a meeting with some inspirational folk from GapFiller to help us Brighton UP! There're a few spaces opening up in the mall that could do with being Renewed... I saw this picture on Keep QEII in the East's facebook page and thought that's exactly the kind of thought-provoking inspirational stuff we need right here in Brightown.
What do you love about your New Brighton?
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