Reporter's Diary
What’s ill a name? ROIMATA, originally a small village settlement of nineteenth century Christchurch, faded into obscurity over the years. But'it is now enjoying a minor revival, thanks to real estate agents and “The Press” map of Christchurch. Never heard of Roimata? It is a small area between Linwood and Woolston, south of Ferry Road. It appears that the only map at present recording its existence is “The Press” one. It does not feature on Lands and Survey Department maps of Christchurch, a spokesman for - the- department saying , .this is because Roimata- was a settlement, not a Suburb. He agreed, though, that in the past, settlements had become suburtis. Once they have a post office in the area, with the new suburb’s name, it seems they gain official suburb status. As yet, Post Office officials know nothing of Roimata, although the mail room has noticed an occasional reappearance of the name on letters:
Spreading out THE" Christchurch City •-V. .. ...
Council disclaims any part in the resurgence of Roimata. “Local bodies are responsible for naming streets, but not suburbs,” said the city surveyor, Mr Kit Iverson. Who decides names for new suburbs, then? Land agents and developers play no small part. “After all,” said Mr Iverson, “it sounds much better to say a house for sale is in Roimata rather than say it is in Woolston or Linwood. It is like Merivale. I can remember when Merivale never crossed Papanui Road or Heaton Street, but now it seems to be spreading in all directions.” Bowled over
TWO ENGLISH cricket professionals, who have been living in Christchurch since the start of the cricket season, had to travel to Ashburton on Sunday to coach young players. They set off in a car, but were a little concerned when, after driving for an hour and a quarter, they had still not reached Ashburton. Even worse, they had started to go up a steep hill, and they felt sure that there were no hills between Christchurch
and Ashburton. So they stopped and asked a local farmer if they were anywhere near Ashburton. The farmer laughed heartily. When he composed himself, he told the hapless cricketers: 'You’re nowhere near Ashburton. You’re on you way up Porters Pass.” The pair turned tail and fled, arriving at Ashburton well past the appointed hour for the coaching session.
Minor interest TODAY, it may surprise you to know, is Human Rights Day. Ranking as one of the least celebrated days, this year it was drawn to our attention by only two press releases, one from the New Zealand Baha’is calling for recognition of the sufferings of their counterparts in Iran, and the other from the Christchurch Lesbian Support Group wanting recognition of their rights under the Human Rights Commission.
Going up? LIKE Television New Zealand, the. 8.8. C. is having trouble trying to persuade the Government that it ought to be allowed a sub-
stantially increased licence fee. But the 8.8. C. has become much more vocal in its demands for a fee increase than its New Zaeland counterpart. It has even set up a public relations body to pressure the Government and the public to give it what it wants. The 8.8. C. Licence Campaign Unit, as it is called, was set up at the end of October and has just rehased figures to show that the average Briton spends no less than one-tenth of his life watching or listening to 8.8. C. programmes. At present, the British colour television licence is about $75 a year, which the Campaign Unit is pushing to have raised to at least $llO a year. New Zealand colour television set owners pay $45 for their licence.
Why, indeed? THE writer of a letter to the editor of “The Times’’ the other day may have a point. In his one-sentence letter, brief but to the point, he asks: “Sir, Why is there only one Monopolies Commission?”
Reporter's Diary
Press, 10 December 1980, Page 2
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.