2011 New Zealand and South Pacific Pipe Band Championships
Timaru 4 and 5 March 2011.
The Royal New Zealand Pipe Bands' Association has decided to cancel the 2011 New Zealand and South Pacific Pipe Band Championships due to be held in Timaru on 4 and 5 March.
We are learning more and more about the impacts of the tragic events in Christchurch as every day passes and there can no doubt they are far reaching and will be long lasting.
New Zealand pipe bands positively contribute to their communities and in the normal course of events our national contests bring entertainment, festivities, great joy and significant commerce to the areas where they occur.
However, it has become increasingly clear on this occasion that to go ahead with this contest in Timaru next weekend could detrimentally impact others outside of the pipe band community. That’s not what we are about.
The best information available to the RNZPBA is that the number of displaced people leaving Christchurch is increasing daily and is expected to rise even further over coming weeks. Already some of those people have had difficulties finding places to go as demand for commercial accommodation in areas around Christchurch grows.
There is more than a remote risk that 1500 or so pipe bands’ men and women arriving in Timaru could divert resources away from people who are more in need.
Countless hours of hard work and emotional energy go into preparing for every national pipe band contest. The decision to cancel can’t be and has not been made lightly. In the end though, as disappointing as this decision will be for bands, this is as exceptional a set of circumstances as it is possible to imagine.
We must recognise in particular the enormous amount of work done by the Timaru organising committee, under the Chairmanship of Ray Jackson, planning for the contest. Ray and his team are extremely saddened by the need to cancel the event after all their hard work. They and the local community in Timaru have been looking forward to having our bands there and promised to give us a welcome we’d never seen before. However, they share with the Association concerns that going ahead could adversely impact others.
Already suggestions have been made of holding a replacement event sometime over the next few months and that is something the Association will give serious consideration to over the next few days. We would welcome any ideas on how that might be done.
The cancellation of the contest also means that the Annual General Meeting of the Association scheduled for Friday 4 March will not now take place and we will send further details about that shortly.
Finally, to all bands who we know will be hugely disappointed by this news you can be sure the decision was not made lightly, was not rushed and was made based on firsthand knowledge and experience of how the events in Christchurch are affecting its residents.
Iain Blakeley - President
Penny Wilson – Board member
Jim Shepherd – Board member
Royal New Zealand Pipe Bands' Association