The business turning old vineyard post into farm fencing
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RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Greening the garden city: Ōtautahi's regeneration through nature, art and gardening
Artist and landscape architect Bridget Allen wouldn't have known how appropriate the name of her gardening business was to be when she set it up, out of Ilam art school and working at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. The name Regenerative Gardening Maintenance was prophetic given her city and its landscape was about to start regenerating. The 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes saw not only buildings turned to rubble, large tracts of land, including an area around Ōtākaro Avon River the size of two New York Central Parks, started to turn from suburbia back to nature. The red zone has been turning green ever since. In the wake of tragedy artists and gardeners came together to innovate and create new public spaces, with an eye on sustainability and community connection. Allen cofounded New Brighton sewing charity Stitch-o-Mat and retrained as a landscape architect. Since 2023 she has been the director of The Green Lab , which began after the quakes as Greening the Rubble, creating urban green spaces and events for connection, while also working with residents to make their own backyards more sustainable. Ever busy with working and planting bees, workshops to build habitats for plants and nature, and consultations to help people make their backyards more sustainable, on August 16 Bridget is running with The Green Lab Birds of Brighton printmaking workshops. It's at the Make Station in New Brighton Mall at 11am and 1pm. No experience is needed. She joined Culture 101 's Mark Amery.
RNZ News
05-08-2025
- RNZ News
Victorian couple risk losing brand new home after building on wrong block
By Jean Bell and Olivia Sanders Melanie Moor and her partner David were shocked to learn they had built their house on the wrong block. Photo: ABC South West Victoria: Olivia Sanders Melanie and David Moor were looking forward to a peaceful retirement in an idyllic country town in south-west Victoria. They purchased land in 2021 and, after securing all the relevant permits, installed a driveway and moved a relocatable house onto the 2-hectare block with connecting power, water and a septic system. But three years later, the couple got the shock of their lives when they learnt they had built their forever home on land they did not own. It turns out, they actually owned the property next door. The Moors mistakenly put a house and a shipping container on a block they didn't own. Photo: ABC South West Victoria: Olivia Sanders The couple said the council was aware of their construction on the site and should have picked up on it sooner. Now, the owner of the block of land where the Moors set up their home has given the couple 14 days to remove the house and return the land to its original state. That 14-day period ends today. The couple first viewed the property in a big subdivision on the outskirts of Camperdown in 2021. "We came down and had a look at it, and we fell in love with it because of the views," Ms Moor said. "We decided then and there: 'Yeah, that's for us.'" They bought it off the plan and put down a $5,000 deposit, but that was where the retirement dream began to unravel. The Moors say they like the rural views from the subdivision. Photo: ABC South West Victoria: Olivia Sanders Ms Moor said the couple believed they had the right block after the real estate agent took them for an inspection before purchase. The couple said the address numbers on the fence posts also led them to believe it was their block. A spokesperson for the agent told the ABC an internal investigation found the agent had not made any false or misleading claims and that it was the Moors' responsibility to confirm which block of land they owned before starting works. They noted that, given the agent "showed them the property in August 2021 - when it was still part of a larger 8-hectare paddock, had not yet been subdivided, and well before the contract of sale was signed in April 2022 - it is conceivable that some confusion arose on [the Moors'] part during that period," the spokesperson said. Melanie Moor says rates bills including her address had been sent to the wrong block. Photo: ABC South West Victoria: Olivia Sanders In 2023, prior to settlement, and with approval of the former owner of the block they did own, the Moors had a driveway installed on the block they thought was theirs. The builder who moved the house, and other tradespeople, used the driveway as a reference point to identify the correct lot. The ABC has viewed the builder's relocation job document, which only lists the road name, not the lot number. The Moors have not been able to move into the house because it is not on their land. Photo: ABC South West Victoria: Olivia Sanders The Corangamite Shire Council approved the Moors' building permit in April 2024. However, the permit documents include an aerial photo illustrating that soil samples were taken from the wrong block. The Moors believe the council should have picked up on that error when reviewing the permit documents. Council reports show that council staff attended the site to inspect the stump holes dug for the house relocation three times in one month. In August 2024, while putting final touches on their new home, Mr Moor received a call from the council informing him to stop work immediately and seek legal advice, after council staff realised construction was happening on the wrong block. "We thought it was a scam," Ms Moor said. Corangamite Shire Council declined to comment on the case as it is related to an ongoing legal matter. The two blocks are right beside each other. Photo: ABC South West Victoria: Olivia Sanders A messy legal battle has ensued. The owner of the block that the Moors mistakenly built their house on lives interstate and bought the block of land from their uncle before he died. The owner was unaware of the construction activity on the land until after the house had been relocated. The Moors proposed a land swap, but in a statement the block owner's lawyers said the blocks were not like-for-like. "The two blocks are not the same - the views are different, and there is an easement registered on the block owned by Mr and Mrs Moor. "There would likely be tax consequences of the proposed land swap," the statement read. In a legal letter seen by the ABC, dated July 22, the block owner issued the Moors a 14-day notice period to remove the house and remediate the land, or the house may be sold. "It was a great shock to [the owner] … to be notified by telephone that someone else had moved their house onto [their] land," the lawyers said in the statement. "[They have] been very patient and have attempted to work with Mr and Mrs Moor over a considerable period of time now, but it appears that the matter is now at an impasse without the assistance of lawyers," the lawyers said. The Moors have sought an extension to the 14-day period through their lawyers, and have since moved the shipping container off the property. Previously, the Moors said they could not afford to move the house to their block and the contractor who originally moved the home also advised the house may not survive another relocation. "We've spent over $500,000 on this," Ms Moor said. "It's our life savings, we've got nothing left." Mr Moor said the house would have to be demolished if it came to that because it was the only option the couple could afford. "It's going to cost more money to just keep going. I don't see there's going to be a winner," he said. - ABC
RNZ News
22-07-2025
- RNZ News
Iwi support name change for St Arnaud to Rotoiti
Descendants of Rangitāne o Wairau at Lake Rotoiti. Photo: Supplied/Rangitāne o Wairau Three iwi at the top of the South Island have put their support behind a proposal to change the name of the village of St Arnaud to Rotoiti. The move is supported by the iwis Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Kuia and Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō. New Zealand Geographic Board secretary Wendy Shaw confirmed the board had received the proposal. "The proposer has been advised that they must consult further with the local community before the proposal can be processed further," Shaw said. The village of St Arnaud has a permanent population of slightly more than 100 people. It sits at the northern end of Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes and takes its name from the nearby St Arnaud range, which in turn takes its name from the French soldier and marshal Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud. Rangitāne o Wairau General Manager Corey Hebberd said the three iwi, all descending from the waka Kurahaupō, have a strong and proud connection to Rotoiti and the surrounding area. It's a specific area mentioned in their Treaty settlements. "Providing support to the name was just a no-brainer for us really. We know that it's an area that our people have long frequented for kai, it's a place that they've been sustained, but it's also a place that's along an important journey for us in terms of heading between Wairau and the coast and other parts of the South Island," Hebberd said. It's not the first attempt to change St Arnaud's name, another proposal was rejected in 2009 according to the Nelson Mail. Hebberd said Rangitāne did some research and were able to find records that showed the use of the name Rotoiti for the area long before St Arnaud. "So, we were able to come across a letter that one of our tūpuna Paraone Taitua sent to Governer Eyre in 1851 in which he references Rotoiti as that place name," Hebberd said. Annette Walker is part of a small group which made the current name change proposal to the Geographic Board. She is optimistic the change will happen and said it would be a huge milestone for the village. Walker called Jacques Leroy de St Arnaud a "dreadful man" and believed some residents would support a change to Rotoiti. "It's like a festering sore that still arises every now and then from the old residents of Lake Rotoiti and they still call it Rotoiti," she said. Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud's wartime exploits in Algeria included suffocating 500 Arab tribesmen in a cave by sealing its exits. Hebberd said it's important to acknowledge some of the actions of the man, but the name Rotoiti would also be more reflective of the area itself. Hebberd said he grew up in the Wairau region and would frequently head up to Lake Rotoiti and the area near the lake was simply referred to by many as Rotoiti. "It's very infrequent that I hear it referred to as St Arnaud. I respect the fact that there will be community members who do call it St Arnaud and who have an affinity with that name, but given the past associated with that name and also the fact that it's so close Lake Rotoiti, the township sits on Lake Rotoiti it makes sense for the area to carry that name." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
