Council spends $2.55m on 'historically important' Akaroa property
Hey neighbours,
Are you a ratepayer? What are your thoughts on this?
Christchurch ratepayers have paid $2.55 million for a culturally significant Akaroa home – more than twice its rateable value.
The Red House, which has a rating valuation of $1.2m, is surrounded by the Takapūneke Reserve, an area of huge importance to Ngāi Tahu and classed as wāhi tapu (a sacred place) by Heritage New Zealand.
The privately-owned home and its surrounding 2864-square-metre garden was due to go to auction on Thursday, but the Christchurch City Council decided in a publicly excluded meeting last week to put in an offer. The auction has since been cancelled.
Do you support this as a good use of ratepayer money?
Neighbourhood Challenge: Who Can Crack This One? ⛓️💥❔
What has a head but no brain?
Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post if you know the answer and the big reveal will be posted in the comments at 2pm on the day!
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Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Some Choice News!
Many New Zealand gardens aren’t seeing as many monarch butterflies fluttering around their swan plants and flower beds these days — the hungry Asian paper wasp has been taking its toll.
Thanks to people like Alan Baldick, who’s made it his mission to protect the monarch, his neighbours still get to enjoy these beautiful butterflies in their own backyards.
Thinking about planting something to invite more butterflies, bees, and birds into your garden?
Thanks for your mahi, Alan! We hope this brings a smile!
Book Cellar Christmas Opening hours
Merry Christmas from The Book Cellar!
The summer break is the perfect time to relax with a book or two (or three or four…). And, of course, books make excellent gifts. There is still time to come in and find the perfect read for you or someone else.
We are open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week as usual, then our Christmas hours are:
Monday 22nd December, 10am – 3pm
Wednesday 24th December, 10am – 12noon
Friday 26th December (Boxing Day), 10am – 1pm (last day for the year).
We will reopen with our usual hours on Thursday 8th January 2026
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