Lawyer recommends wheelie bins to rescue files from cordon
A Christchurch lawyer recommends that people waiting to access premises inside the CBD cordon be prepared to remove everything they need in one trip when their turn comes as they might get only one opportunity to do so.
Barrister Gary Collin says those accessing their offices should expect to be walking from the cordon into the CBD, and that using a wheelie bin is the best method of transporting items retrieved from buildings. “Otherwise you can only take what you can carry,” Mr Collin says.
“You’re only going to get one go and they’re not going to let you in there for very long. There’s a lot of people who want access. There’s already 900 businesses I think lined up to go in.”
On Wednesday Mr Collin had the chance to remove essential files and documents from his office. He says he “was a bit naive about the process. I didn’t think about it so I took nothing.”
Vehicles are not being let through the cordon. “We had to leave ours at the edge of the cordon and walk through several checkpoints into the Civil Defence headquarters.”
After waiting for two hours, Mr Collin and his colleague were then allowed to walk to his office, accompanied by two engineers and three civil defence staff. At the office Mr Collin realised that they were not going to be able to carry out everything they needed without help.
“I said to my colleague, Why don’t we just use our work wheelie bins? We took the wheelie bins in and then trundled them through the deserted streets like refugees to the cordon which was about two kilometres away.
“Without the wheelie bins we probably could have only taken a computer each. There are four barristers in our chambers and we managed to get out all the computers and a pile of files because we had two wheelie bins. We saw other people had taken backpacks but you don’t get much into a backpack. [Wheelie bins] are very robust, they hold a lot and they’re easy to move around.”
Mr Collin warns that people should not rely on their wheelie bins still remaining on site.
“Our yellow one was no longer at the office. I was told by Civil Defence that some bins had been taken by them and other people within the cordon for their own use.
Having rescued their hard drives and essential files, Mr Collin and the other barristers in his chambers are now operational again thanks to the generosity of another Christchuch lawyer, “who’s offered us an office and we’re sharing it and it’s enough to put our phones in.”