Sensitive approach to Christchurch’s wall of flowers removal

The process of removing the flowers, messages and other tributes left outside the Rolleston Avenue entrance to the Botanic Gardens will begin today.

Over the past three-and-a-half weeks, thousands of people have laid flowers, toys, cards, and other tributes along Rolleston Avenue as a way of expressing their sorrow and support for all those affected by the 15 March mosque shootings.

Masses of floral tributes have been left outside the Rolleston Avenue entrance to the Botanic Gardens since the 15 March mosque attacks.

“It has been heart-warming to see the contributions to the wall growing daily but we have reached a point where we need to start removing some of the older flowers and tributes,” Christchurch Botanic Gardens Director Wolfgang Bopp says.

“People are still welcome to place flowers along the Rolleston Avenue frontage of the Botanic Gardens but, with the agreement of the Muslim community, Christchurch City Council staff and a team of volunteers will begin the job of moving some of the older tributes.

“They will be taken initially to a sorting room across the road at the Arts Centre where a team of Canterbury University students and other volunteers will carefully separate the various items, with the aim of making a digital record of the tributes,” Mr Bopp says.

Any messages or tributes that are addressed to a specific person will be offered to the respective family.

The remaining messages and tributes will be placed into long-term storage for possible use by the community at a later stage.

Toys that are still in good condition will be cleaned and also put aside for potential future use.

Wilted flowers and other organic material will be composted. The compost will be set aside so it can be used in the future by the mosques.

Canterbury Museum would like to add some of the flowers and tributes to their collection, subject to detailed agreement with the Muslim community.

“These tributes now form part of our collective history and we want to handle them all with care and respect. They are an expression of our shared sadness at the loss of 50 members of our community but also a tribute to all the support across the country and the world. It is important that we deal with them sensitively,” Mr Bopp says.