The plight of Canterbury homeowners

The Government’s package for Canterbury homeowners with badly damaged land has brought resolution for some and dismay for others. Rebecca Macfie looks at the circumstances of three households.

By Rebecca Macfie In Letter from Christchurch

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9th July, 2011

Brian Frisken’s earthquake has been, he says, “a bit of a struggle”. Indeed, a less robust person than the 75-year-old former seaman might have buckled under the strain of the past few months. Soon after the February 22 quake, his wife, Marjorie, a resident of the badly damaged Churchill Courts rest home in the suburb of Shirley, was evacuated from Christchurch. Frisken vividly remembers the day she and the other frail and elderly residents of the home were airlifted away. “It was a dreadful day. They were all sitting there in the lounge and there wasn’t a word. They knew something ...

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