There is much to celebrate in, on and around the Christchurch Estuary – as shining symbol of the city’s proud East. So many planning issues pertain, especially will the north shore (Southshore-South Brighton) receive the same level of investment and protections as the south (Ferrymead to Sumner)? The rating bases, reflecting the kinds of land…

For Akaroa and Whakaraupō/Lyttelton, the issues are different – but with much overlap. (Pun intended: climate change and sea-level rise impose accelerating adaptation.) Peak demand from tourist cruise ships oscillates with off-season lulls, challenging local business sustainability. There are waste peaks to manage too, affecting council rates. Akaroa remains a remarkable tourism gem, set in…

2019, the Our Water Our City campaign of 2010 merges into CommunityVoice.NZ – that seeks election to represent Owhanga, South Christchurch at Environment Canterbury. A long history of public concern and protest surrounds our emergence in 2007 as Save Our Water. Aquifer tainting and depletion are dangers we campaigned on then and were successful with,…

Too much stuff goes to landfill with no recycling option. In many cases the answer is not to make or buy it in the first place. All Earth resources are under pressure, oceans have plastic rubbish accumulating, landfills take precious space and are a hazard to surface and ground water and coast – as at…

Maintaining high water quality and quantity is Canterbury region top priority. News is bad: New tests show nitrate levels still rising in water “Nitrate concentrations in Selwyn’s water sources continue to rise.. The district council’s chemical testing results show nitrate levels have increased in more than half of the tested water schemes over the last…

“To survive rising temperatures, every system, whether of the natural world or of the human world, will need to be as strong and healthy as we can make it… hope for today.” [1] Community Voice campaigns for councils to encourage and support innovation, in the technical space assisting growers on the land, to honour the…

A pest and predator free Horomaka/Banks Peninsula by the year 2050? …That is the bold goal, the vision of active community groups and agency partners of the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust (BPCT): private land owners, Summit Road Society ‘Predator Free Port Hills’, Christchurch City Council, Department of Conservation, etc. Community Voice campaigns through 2019 for…