Avondale, Christchurch


Avondale is a suburb of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located northeast of the city center, and is close to the Avon River, four kilometers to the northwest of its estuary. The suburb is centered on Avondale Road and so named due to its proximity to the Avon River. It has a good sized park on Mervyn Drive called Avondale Park. This park has a kids playground, a tennis court, basketball court, and a football field in winter. There is ample vacant red zone land in Avondale for activities such as leisure and dog walking.
Chisnallwood Intermediate is the main Intermediate school in the eastern suburbs, and is located in Avondale.

Canterbury earthquakes

During the 2010–2011 Christchurch earthquakes, Avondale was hit hard by damage to land and buildings due to soil liquefaction, part of Avondale was declared by the government as a residential red zone. This meant that the government considers rebuilding the infrastructure in such zone uneconomic, and the residents' properties were purchased by the government under what has been called a voluntary yet coercive scheme – while residents were free to refuse the government's buyout of their homes, the government cautioned that remaining in place would entail a lack of insurance, infrastructure, and city services. The government's red zone declaration was ruled as unlawful by the High Court in August 2013 on the grounds that it was not pursuant to the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act. Many roads remain damaged in Avondale as of 2014, posing a problem for residents, and the Avon river's banks had to be built up in the suburb to avoid flooding. Portaloos were present on some streets due to destroyed sewers. Building, sewer and road reparations are currently underway in the suburb.