MEDIA RELEASE

Greening the Rubble and Make-Shift Public Launch Event

On Sunday 19th of December between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, Greening the Rubble, a post-quake initiative aiming to revitalise urban spaces, will be launched on the corner of Salisbury and Victoria Streets. The launch event will be held on the former site of Asko Design and Carl Watkins Hairdressing, whose premises were destroyed by the 4th September earthquake. It marks the beginning of a community project which will see the sites temporarily landscaped with seating and native vegetation and other plants while the owners prepare for site redevelopment in mid 2011.

Wayne McCallum, Regional Biodiversity Coordinator, and one of the organisers of the event explains: “Greening the Rubble is a collaborative project involving land owners and the wider community, where the objective is to make temporary use of vacant sites in a way that emphasises Christchurch’s diversity and resilience, and the creativity of its people. The project involves a wide range of partners, including landscape architects, environmental consultants, plant nursery owners, students and managers of Unlimited inner city high school, staff from
Environment Canterbury, Lincoln University and the Christchurch City Council, as well as members of the general public.”

This Greening the Rubble project, which is to be run under the umbrella of Living Streets Aotearoa with grant support from Christchurch City Council, forms part of a wider initiative to find temporary uses for empty sites across Christchurch; collectively known as Make-SHIFT. This wider project helps to host the recent Gap-Filler arts and performance activities and projects by pupils from Unlimited Secondary School. More groups are expected to come under this umbrella over the next twelve months.

Rhys Taylor from Living Streets Aotearoa describes Make-SHIFT as “an exciting project to help put some fun and a visual welcome back into the inner city through temporary public use of vacant spaces. We are inviting commercial landowners to contact Living Streets in January with offers of access to sites, for a few weeks or months or up to a year."

Events on Sunday will include Morris dancing, capoeira, music, a barbecue, coffee vendor, and a brief presentation from Greening the Rubble coordinators. The newly announced patron for Make-Shift, Christchurch Mayoress Jo Nicholls-Parker will speak, along with Christchurch mayor, Bob Parker, local MP Nicky Wagner and the site’s owners.

The launch will double as celebration to the end of the International Year of Biodiversity, with free copies of a biodiversity DVD provided by Environment Canterbury, featuring films from the recent MyBiodiversity Film Competition.

For more details of the event, Greening the Rubble and make-SHIFT go to www.canterburybiodiversity.org.nz .

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