The CEO of the Christchurch City Council,Tony Marryatt, has delivered a blow to the quake hit eastern suburbs of Christchurch but he didn't bother to tell the Council about what he was up to. Or did he keep Mayor Sideshow Bob 'fully briefed' and Bob kept the information to himself? These are not great days for the quake-hit eastern suburbs of Christchurch and the Eastside has just suffered another blow. And the CEO of the Christchurch City Council, Tony Marryatt, has helped to deliver that blow.
Supershed is a council-owned recycling depot in Aranui. It sells unwanted goods, that would otherwise end up in the landfill, at cheap prices. It provides a much needed service for the more economically disadvantaged communities of the Eastside.
The directors of Supershed have however decided to move Supershed to the west side of the city, namely Blenheim Road in Riccarton.
Christchurch East Labour MP Lianne Dalziel has attacked the decision. She has rightly observed that the new facility would be out of reach for those who needed it most.
'I just think this is arrogant decision-making, with no consultation with the people who are affected by that decision. It displays a complete lack of understanding of the community that has been the host of this facility since it opened.'
Aranui Community Trust manager Rachael Fonotia told The Press the depot was 'a good asset' for the community.
'It's good, cheap shopping, and a lot of people frequent it,' she said. 'Once you take something out of a community, and it's not as easy to get to, people don't go.'
Jim McKay, a regular SuperShed customer, said the depot was vital to the area and couldn't understand what the Council was up to.
'I'm not sure why they're doing this, particularly as those who frequent and purchase from the SuperShed are those who live on the east side of the city. Realistically, they are the ones who can't afford to commute to the west side of town.'
City Councillor Yani Johanson has said that shifting the SuperShed from the east was totally unacceptable.
'I just think it's a crazy idea to move it to the other side of town. People are used to it being in the east, and that community deserves all the support it can get.'
He also said that he was 'shocked' councillors' input had not been sought.
Johanson has every right to be shocked - and angry - because the Supershed directors have effectively gone behind the back of the Christchurch City Council.
Last year Supershed's Statement of Intent was passed by the Council and no mention was made of any plans to move the recycling depot.
The Statement of Intent says that:
The company will operate on a “no surprises” basis in respect of significant Shareholder related matters, to the extent possible in the context of commercial sensitivity and confidentiality obligations.
So the directors have completely disregarded Supershed's Statement of Intent and their obligations to the Council.
What makes this all the more surprising, and all the more unacceptable, is that one of the directors of Supershed is the CEO of the Christchurch City Council.
Tony Marryatt has got a lot of explaining to do and, given that he is Sideshow Bob's faithful right hand man, we are entitled to know just what Bob knew about Marryatt's secret plans for SuperShed.
This will be part of a wider plan to close it down as a move to riccarton is probably designed to make it unsustainable.
ReplyDeleteHere we have a man on a 6 figure salary taking away a vital resource from people with nothing. There's a word for that, its called 'theft'.
Sideshow Bob has a new friend in town. The ex Mayor of San Francisco is visiting and Bob has dutifully taken him around the eastern suburbs and the red zone. I'm surprised that Sideshow's Porsche can remember how to get to the eastern suburbs given that its only been there once before. Sideshow continues to use this disaster and the misery of the people of Christchurch to further launch his international career as a "New World Leader". He's clearly deluded.......Poor Sideshow and poor Christchurch.
ReplyDeleteI've been there a couple of times since moving to Blenheim Road and there was hardly anyone there, certainly a lot less than when it was in Pages Road.
ReplyDelete