Newspaper article published in The Press and shared on stuff.co.nz
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A joint project between the Christchurch City Council, Te Whare Roimata (TWR) and Greening The Rubble (GTR) will build a tiny village in Linwood Village to build a big community.
Described by GTR’s Jonathan Hall as “a little tiny village in a garden setting”, the new project would include five shops, all built small enough to not require building consents.
The village, on the old site of the Argonaut Building on Stanmore Rd, was estimated to open near the end of May or in June.
So far community bicycle workshop ICEcycles and Stanmore Rd’s Te Ao Cafe were confirmed for the village, with another building already dedicated as a community space for workshops or meetings.
Te Ao Cafe would be in a newly built tiny shop, with the original building likely to be on site as a food exchange.
“There’s potential for more to come in, council are open to that,” Hall said.
TWR coordinator Jenny Smith said the area was badly damaged in the earthquake and the open market was “not going to deliver [what the community needed] yet”.
The tiny shops would provide some services lacking in Linwood, she said, and were receiving plenty of community support.
“I think people in this neighbourhood are very welcoming of any progress, any moving forward,” she said.
“It’s a nice meeting place, a bit of a hub. If you wanted to have a meeting here, you could; build a community.”
Hall said GTR had been approached by council to expand on the Te Ao Cafe and Koha Gardens projects in the area.
“We asked community what they would like,” Hall said.
“We don’t just want to come into an area and say ‘here’s your project’ and bugger off.”
Smith said the project was “not just being plonked” on the site and a lot of loving thought had gone into it.
As well as the shops and gardens, the space would encompass a new mural to be painted on the side of SuperValue. GTR’s Jono Kitt said the design had also gone through community consultation and was nearing the stage of painting.
“So watch this space,” Kitt said.
Working on Tuesdays, Kitt said the turnout of volunteers had been awesome, with some returning from the Phillipstown Hub project, locals pitching in and more coming from the City Mission.
“They were just having some good, positive time in their community,” he said.
Businesses in the area were also very supportive of the project, Hall said, with some donating materials towards the builds of the tiny shops.
