This has been a frustrating year for the Grubb Cottage Trust, but we have much to be thankful for. The cottage sustained very little damage from the series of earthquakes that destroyed many heritage buildings in Canterbury, and once the consent process is completed, only minor remedial work will need to be done.

This puts us in the unexpected position of  being one of the few heritage buildings left in Lyttelton, or indeed Christchurch, and how we address that situation will be the major focus of the trust in the coming year.  The consent process has been set back by the earthquakes, to the extent that since September 2010, very little progress has been made. We are hopeful of some significant progress in the next few weeks, and can therefore hope that this will re-invigorate current trust members, and inspire new ones.

Sam Strati, the  previous chair of Grubb Cottage Trust, resigned from the position early in 2011 to follow career opportunities in Wellington. Sam made an enormous contribution to getting the cottage restored, and also to beginning , and constantly pushing, the consent process. His boundless energy, sense of humour, and painfully acquired knowledge of City Council process is sorely missed, and he deserves our sincere thanks for all that he achieved. As deputy chairperson, I took over the post of Chair following his departure, and I am happy to continue in this role if elected.

At this stage, we can only hope that we will be able to actually open the cottage in the near future.  Like John Grubb, we face many challenges before that will happen, but I'm sure that like him, we will succeed.