I'm not really too worried about brownlee and his plan to knock all heritage buildings down and the reason is that he is a very dull knife indeed IMO as evidenced by these proclaimations
NZH
The Minister, Gerry Brownlee, told a media briefing this afternoon that if he had his way, most of Christchurch's heritage buildings would be bowled tomorrow. He says the old buildings killed people when they toppled during the earthquake and they can not remain.
"While they are part of our past history, they have no place in our future history. As I've said repeatedly, heritage is both forward and back and from this point on, we decide what the heritage of this city will be," he said.
Oh dear gerry - past history is a little redundant and future history - well I know what you are trying to say but you aren't actually saying it with those words. I think the 'we' in the last sentence indicates the royal 'we'.
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has said that the old buildings in Christchurch will be pulled down so that they can no longer claim lives in earthquakes.
Stuff
Quite frankly people have died in this last earthquake trying to save old buildings. We're not going to do that any more. My absolutely strong position is that the old dungas, no matter what their connection, are going under the hammer."
"Old stuff, if it's got any damage at all, needs to be got down and got out, because it's dangerous and we don't need it."
No one would put a building above someone's life but there are some major inconsistancies with brownlee's statement. The two modernish buildings that came down killed more people than the heritage buildings. If you do this in Christchurch, which used to be considered a low earthquake risk compared to some other other cities in this country, then what about Wellington or somewhere else?
I am not opposed to bringing down damaged or dangerous buildings but let's do it with the proper mindset. Heritage buildings are about culture not just the bricks and buildings can be more than just buildings and that has to be considered. We do need them.
Good discussion in comments on Dim Post
