A tale of two beaches: The uneven rebuilds of Sumner and New Brighton

Monday, 15 February 2021

Reporter JONNY EDWARDS examines the rebuilds of two of the Christchurch’s seaside hubs and asks what their futures hold.

Homes were destroyed, public spaces wrecked and streets broken in two of Christchurch’s seaside suburbs on February 22, 2011.

Ten years on, where Sumner has newly-paved streets, New Brighton has vacant shops.

While the fates of the two areas diverged decades ago, some New Brighton residents feel the disaster worsened the divide, but they are still hoping for its long-promised revitalisation.

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Sumner: A rebuild success story

Christchurch’s deadly earthquake left deep scars in the affluent suburb of Sumner.

Three people were killed in the wider area as cliffs collapsed and boulders crushed buildings. Houses and businesses were made uninhabitable and community facilities were destroyed.

The risks of rockfall and structural hazards led to the “red stickering” of 314 properties in the wider area.

Evans Pass, one of the main transport routes from Sumner, was closed until November 2012 and the road to Lyttelton did not reopen until late March 2019.

Resident Charlie Hudson says she remembers hearing the “explosions” from the Port Hills when the quake struck.

“I was out in my car and I rushed to Sumner School to gather the children and take them home before realising home doesn't exist any more.”

As she neared their hillside house she realised the land in front had fallen away and the building was teetering over.

“We moved in with friends because we didn’t have anywhere else to go. It was quite overwhelming.”

For years after the quake, containers lined the main street in from the city to protect it from rockfall.

Hudson, who has held various roles with Sumner’s residents’ association, says the area's community groups led the suburb's rebuild.

Local architects pitched in to draft a master plan, much of which remained in the final plan.

Residents also successfully petitioned to take over the old museum and library site to use as a transitional village green and skate park, which became a focal point in the area.

Heathcote ward councillor Sara Templeton says the suburb was “isolated” for many years.

While Sumner is now a thriving hub, she admits it took a long time to get there.

“Quite a few of those businesses struggled as a lot of people did not want to drive past those shipping containers.”

But the suburb has gradually been restored to its former glory.

The Scarborough Paddling Pool reopened in 2014 after a $780,000 council rebuild, while a new $2.8 million surf club was finished a year later, paid for mostly by insurance and fundraising.

Containers were removed from Peacocks Gallop, on the main road into Sumner from the city, in late 2016 as part of a $4m government project.

The council unveiled Matuku Takotako – a $10m centre combining a new library, community centre and museum – in 2017 and a $1.5m makeover of Sumner’s main street was completed in 2019.

Now the final section of the coastal pathway, a 6.5-kilometre trail linking Ferrymead and Scarborough, is being constructed with the help of $15.8m in Government funding.

Templeton says there is still work to do.

A noticeable blight on the Esplanade is the decrepit Cave Rock apartments site, where some crumbling buildings remain. After 10 years, there finally seems to be a way as forward with Marriner Property Limited's plans to build apartments on the land.

They also need to figure out what to do with the Government-owned red-zone that once contained 700 buildings, she says.

“We need to go through a process of what we do with that area.”

Exciting projects were planned, such as a new skate park and village green on a site where buildings had to be demolished.

Overall, Sumner feels peaceful yet energetic and family friendly.

While the odd abandoned building remains in the suburb proper, market forces have led to most being renovated or replaced.

It now feels like a “fantastic place to be”, Templeton says.

“It’s one of those places where a lot of people come on the weekends, go swimming, surfing, out for a walk.

“It feels amazing now, but some people feel it took a while to get here.”

Resident Vivien Jung takes her 3-year-old daughter Milena Smit to the rebuilt Scarborough Paddling Pool every day.

She says they are “spoilt for choice” for parks and other recreation facilities in their neighbourhood.

“I was nannying here just after the earthquakes and the area felt quite sad. The children were looking for something to do.”

Now she talks most days with her family about how lucky they are to live where they do.

“I’m originally from Germany and there people aren’t used to having so many playgrounds and facilities. People here don’t realise how lucky they are, I really believe that.”

New Brighton: Still looking towards the future

New Brighton's rebuild has been much more mixed.

Sumner’s more Bohemian northern counterpart suffered heavily from liquefaction.

Jo Zervos, who sits on the local Waitai/Coastal Community Board, remembers the area was without power for more than a week and without water for even longer.

Portaloos and welfare centres were part of daily life.

“There were helicopters buzzing around. There were police and security – you weren’t allowed out after dark because houses were getting looted.

“It led to uncertainty and fear for some people.”

In the following years, surrounding suburbs were wiped out and turned into red-zoned land.

Within the suburb, houses, churches and a 150-resident retirement home were irreparably damaged.

Contractors funded by the Government and city council fixed the underground pipe network and spent $25m on two new wastewater plants.

In 2017, work began on an $8m play area in Marine Pde and last year $994,000 was spent repairing the New Brighton clock tower, although it still struggles to keep the time.

The star attraction has been the $11.2m He Puna Taimoana hot pools, which opened in May last year and attracted more than 60,000 visitors in the first six months.

Zervos says the projects are “nice to haves, but not need to haves” while the rest of the suburb still has uneven roads and unkempt verges.

New Brighton’s pedestrian mall is arguably its biggest burden.

In 2015, a council master plan for the area proposed working with building owners to revitalise the centre, halve the shopping area’s size, and potentially change its direction so it no longer faced the sea and its blustery winds.

The idea never eventuated. Many shops remain untenanted and overgrown spaces lie dormant.

These issues arose long before the February 2011 earthquake though.

New Brighton was once a booming suburb due to its Saturday shopping privileges. Then a 1980 law extended the allowance across the country and the popularity of New Brighton’s centre declined over the following decades.

Zervos says part of the problem is building restrictions imposed because of the area’s uneven ground, which deters investors.

The master plan also suggested connecting the beach to the Te Ara Ōtākaro Avon River Trail, but this has not happened either.

While the council has worked on New Brighton Rd, including making part of it one way, it floods every time there is a high tide because of the way the drains have been designed

It is also cracked and overgrown in many places, Zervos says.

“Think about what you see when you come into Sumner, and compare that to the road coming in here.”

She has continuously heard the argument that parts of the suburb should not be invested in at all because they may eventually be lost due to sea level rise.

“But say that happens in 50 or even 70 years – there are people who live here now.”

Zervos has strong connections to the suburb, and says there is a lot to love there.

“We’ve got the beach and nearby you have Bottle Lake Forest, the estuary and a laid-back lifestyle.”

However, the outstanding damage makes many residents feel abandoned by the council and the Government.

“It creates a negativity and residents think ‘why aren’t they looking after us?’. The damage we’re still living with, it really affects you mentally.”

The suburb has many enthusiastic community groups, but sometimes they find it difficult to collaborate, she says.

“It would almost be more effective if some of them joined together.”

Some projects are in the pipeline after the Government’s “shovel ready” fund invested $7m in the suburb, including revamps for two surf lifesaving clubs and money for the in-construction multi-purpose sports facility at Rāwhiti Domain.

Developers have slowly built new homes and apartment blocks in the area in the last few years, but old, dilapidated buildings are still a common sight.

Resident Vanessa Barr has lived next to two abandoned and derelict houses for two-and-a-half years.

The area feels “dead” most of the time, she says.

“I do love New Brighton. There are lots of great walks. You can smell the salt air and hear the waves. But it needs a couple more shops or some kind of investment.”

The suburb comes alive on Saturday mornings for its weekly market, which attracts “huge turnouts”, she says.

Local councillor James Daniels says he is optimistic about New Brighton’s prospects.

He gets frustrated with people complaining about “what they’ve got over there” in other suburbs.

“I say if you want to compare, let’s start with your rates. Do you know how much people in Fendalton pay in rates?”

He says that does not mean suburbs that don’t pay high rates shouldn't get certain facilities, but that residents need to be “realistic”.

“Let’s take a big breather and be happy with what we’ve got. There are good things happening, but they take time.”

Rebecca Tavete established co-working space Argo on a second-floor Marine Pde building in 2018 and added café and restaurant Level One next door the following year.

She says the idea is to support the area’s economic development.

“This was done for love rather than making lots of money.”

The area is Bohemian and filled with intelligent, creative people, she says.

However, she often feels New Brighton is left out of council investment compared to other parts of the city.

Her business does well, but she has to work hard constantly to bring people in with new events and ideas, she says.

“It's a very hard space to be in. It was definitely forward thinking. I’m thinking in six years we’ll be able to really make it.”

The spark that will make this happen is more business owners willing to take a risk and “stick it out”.

It will also take local government plans coming to fruition, she says.

“It has to be revitalised. It makes no sense to invest in things like the hot pools and not follow though. It just has to.”