Pop-Up Roger Sutton

Earthquakes don't take a break for the silly season, as Christchurch is discovering for the second year in a row. Unlike the furtive and grasping City Council CEO Tony Marryatt, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority chief Roger Sutton is remaining on the job through the quake-stricken holidays.

Unfortunately this isn't necessarily good news for those devastated residents of the Eastern suburbs who find themselves shoveling silt for the umpteenth time, as Roger isn't throwing himself full time into a desperately needed review of the status of their damaged properties. Instead he's applying his considerable engineering skills to being the endearingly awkward public face of the CERA-sponsored series of pop-up picnics, with such traditional favourites as lolly scrambles and egg and spoon races.

It may be, though, that we're underestimating Roger. These events could be the start of a whole new family-friendly form of earthquake recovery. Because despite Sutton having taken a $250,000 pay cut when he moved to his present job, you could still hire a whole bunch of top-notch picnic gurus for the amount he currently trousers.