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Tonight I attended a meeting with tenants of Housing New Zealand. They came from Riccarton, from Bryndwr, from Shirley, from Edgeware.

They came because they have had letters from the Government telling them their houses are up for sale: part of the 2,500 HNZ houses the Government is looking to sell in Christchurch.  Some of them told their stories.

So said Samwise Gamgee at the end of 'The Lord of the Rings' (yes, I'm a LOTR nerd!).

That seems an appropriate first new blog title.

I'm back.

So said the French novelist Jean-Baptist Alphonse Karr in 1849. 

Thinking housing, and why it matters, reminded me of this film from 1946. 

It’s Friday, 7 October: tomorrow we hear the results of the local body elections.  Tomorrow our city’s elected leaders for the next three years are decided.

Looking back over the last six months, it’s been an amazing journey. Kelly Dugan (standing for the District Health Board) said recently that everyone should run for elected office once in their lives: you learn so much about yourself, and so much about others. How true.

So, what have I learned?