By Louisa
We spent Saturday morning feeling the love in Lyttelton - love for jetty, that is. Nick H organised a free spot at the community stall at Lyttelton Farmers' Market.
We were very lucky - it was prime market real estate right at the entrance. We were able to catch people entering the market when they were still feeling sprightly, or at the end when they were slowed down by bags full of caulis, cucumbers, and other items of fresh deliciousness.
We were next to lady selling dried cattle ears (among other things) for dogs. They look quite tasty when you haven't had time for breakfast... but I digress.
We spent the morning talking to people about the jetty and gathering signatures for our petition, which we'll present with our submission to the Council next week.
The petition is to show that we're not just a bunch of randoms with an axe to grind - we're the vocal cords of everyone who believes in restoring Governors Bay jetty. And there are a lot of us!
We haven't crunched the exact numbers yet, but with the estimated 250 new signatures we got at Lyttelton on Saturday, we're confident we've got the best part of 1000 signatures. And the committee members have only signed once each, I promise!
At Lyttelton we met many people who love that jetty - it wasn't a hard sell. And it wasn't just harbour and bay residents showing their support.
There were people who are about to move to Governors Bay and would love to be able to use the jetty. There were people who lived in Governors Bay or stayed at Cholmondley as children and have precious memories of the jetty.
There were people from Christchurch who may only use it occasionally but see the jetty as the icon of Governors Bay. There were people from overseas or new to Christchurch who had never even been to Governors Bay, but could see from our display that the jetty is something special.
Even the guy whose initial comment when he saw a photo of the jetty in its current state and said "It needs to be knocked down!" signed the petition after listening to Denis.
Talking of whom, I'm pleased to say that Denis attended the blessing of Albion Square that morning (in his capacity as a Community Board member) resplendent in his Save Governors Bay Jetty T-shirt.
All in all, a successful morning. Thanks to everyone who made it happen - and to Lyttelton Farmers' Market for having us.