Christchurch earthquake cordon IDs to be issued

Last updated 18:47 30/03/2011

 

People living and working inside the central city cordon in quake-damaged Christchurch are to be issued with official photo identification.

Civil Defence today said the new cards would be given only to those with legitimate business inside the cordon, Radio New Zealand reported.

The cards - colour-coded for residents, contractors and emergency service workers - would make it easier to identify who was going in and out.

People living inside the cordon have previously had to show several forms of identification to police or military personnel.

Civil Defence also planned to issue safety advice, including the safest routes within the cordon.

Zone five, between St Asaph St and Moorhouse Ave, was expected to reopened to businesses and residents tomorrow and to the general public from Friday.

Capsule to be opened soon

MICHAEL WRIGHT

Last updated 08:42 30/03/2011

 

The second secret of Christchurch's John Robert Godley statue should be revealed next month.

Two capsules were found underneath the toppled statue of the man considered the founding father of Canterbury after last month's quake.

One was a glass bottle with a hand-written note detailing the statue's shift to a site beside Christ Church Cathedral in 1918.

The other was a sealed copper tube.

Canterbury Museum director Anthony Wright said it planned to hold a public unveiling of the cylinder as soon as the museum's laboratories were open.

"We want to have the controlled conditions of the conservation lab as a backdrop to it," he said. "It's just a safety net, I suppose.

"If we find what's inside is extremely crumbly, we might need to take some sort of action."

Wright said the museum had weathered the quake well and planned to reopen the labs about April 11.

It was hoped Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker would open the capsule.

The "fairly hefty" copper pipe was 40 centimetres long and 12cm in diameter. "It feels like it's full of stuff to me," Wright said.

The Godley statue, which was unveiled in 1867, had been moved twice. It was shifted back to its current site in 1933.

Wright said it was thought the capsule contained a record of events between those years.

Two months before fate of Cathedral is known

Last updated 14:13 30/03/2011

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/4827422/Two-months-before-fate-of-Cathedral-is-known

The fate of the Christchurch's Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament will not be known for at least two months.

The cathedral dome must be lowered to roof height and hazardous concrete debris removed from both front towers before structural engineers can carry out a full assessment.

This work is not expected to be completed until the middle of May.

Bishop Barry Jones, the Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, said ``every effort'' would be made to save the Cathedral.

"The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is our spiritual home in Canterbury. It is a magnificent building and an absolute treasure for Catholics throughout New Zealand and the world,'' he said.

``However, until engineers are able to get inside safely and carry out a comprehensive report, we can but wait and pray that it can be saved,'' he said.

Richard Munt, of Opus Consulting, said removing the giant central dome would be a taxing exercise.

``We are going to have to bring in specially a giant 400-tonne crane for the work, which will be carried out in several stages.'' Urgency is being given to clearing away the large debris on the northern tower and removing the bells housed in that section.

Creation of community forum welcomed

NICOLE MATHEWSON

Last updated 05:00 30/03/2011

 

A community forum to help rebuild Canterbury is a "promising start", but must be truly representative, community leaders say.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee announced yesterday that 20 people from a cross-section of interest groups would be appointed to the forum within three weeks.

The forum would provide information and advice to the minister and the new Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera).

Hagley-Ferrymead Community Board chairman Bob Todd said the forum seemed like a "good start" for rebuilding Christchurch, as long as it was representative of the community.

"I've said all along that certainly the community has got to be involved in the process ... I think that's a promising start that they are going to engage with community groups."

Todd said some elected councillors and community board members could be appointed to the forum.

Spreydon-Heathcote Community Board chairman Phil Clearwater said the forum was a positive development. He hoped community boards would be involved.

"This city has 40 elected community board members. They're able people, they're already paid for by the ratepayers ... so it's really how we can harness that potential."

Riccarton-Wigram Community Board chairman Mike Mora said community board members would be "ideally placed" to consult with their communities and give feedback.

However, they had been "pushed aside" after last month's earthquake.

"It's very, very frustrating. In fact, we feel like cheats, because we can't do the job we've been elected to do."

Community board members had extensive knowledge of their areas, but none had been asked to help plan the rebuilding process yet, he said.

"I've been on the community board for 20 years. There's nothing in this ward I don't know about."

Burwood-Pegasus Community Board chairwoman Linda Stewart said Cera would not fully understand communities' immediate needs.

"We don't know who will be on this community forum, but I'm happily optimistic that they will include community boards.

"We're the ones who know what our communities need."

Lyttelton-Mt Herbert Community Board chairwoman Paula Smith said Cera needed to ensure local interests were met.

"I hope it will act as a conduit between central government and the community."

Action for Christchurch East organiser Angela Wasley said quake victims had already suffered from too much red tape and bureaucracy.

"Three weeks for them to be announced, another month to find their feet ... it's a positive step, but I do have doubts."

Wasley suggested Christ Church Cathedral's Dean Peter Beck would be an ideal candidate for the forum.

The forum should also include experts from the health, building, legal and insurance industries, with those appointed needing the skills to "hit the ground running".

"We can't have time wastage and, heading into winter, we've got some real urgency to get people sorted. We need experts and we need it to happen fast."

Tom McBrearty, chairman of quake support group CanCERN, said it was difficult to comment on the forum until names and roles were announced.

"I suspect CanCERN will be recognised and asked to perform a specific role. I know nobody from our organisation has been approached personally; it's more a case of `watch this space'."

- The Press

Will council be sidelined?

Last updated 05:00 30/03/2011

 

Cera's powers will be used to deal only with unexpected problems that need a fast action, Gerry Brownlee says.

The governance of Christchurch was turned on its head yesterday with a five-year reign set in place under a new Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera).

The authority, which will have most of the powers available to Civil Defence under a state of emergency, worries some constitutional experts but Recovery Minister Brownlee said the extensive mandate was only for "reserve powers" to deal with unforeseen problems that needed a quick response.

"If we were to go through normal processes ... then I think you'd be into years of recovery," Brownlee said.

The new structure gave the Christchurch City Council the lead role for a plan – to be produced within nine months – to rebuild the central business district.

Mayor Bob Parker said that was a "crucial" offer.

"That's the news that we did need to hear today, and I feel very reassured by that," Parker said yesterday.

Brownlee's announcement to councillors had been greeted with applause, indicating "majority support", Parker said.

However, Brownlee agreed that "in theory" Cera could overrule the city council. "But I don't think it's going to get to that. We have worked in a collaborative fashion over the last five or six weeks."

One of Cera's first tasks will be to come up with an over-arching recovery strategy, which is expected to be finished by October.

Local recovery plans will have to give effect to the Cera strategy.

However, legal experts warn local government could be sidelined, with the devil still to be seen in the detail of legislation yet to be tabled in Parliament.

"The general vibe of the paperwork so far, and the Government's previous track record, suggests a subsidiary role for local councils," Victoria University senior lecturer Dean Knight said last night.

"It looks unlikely that the response will be led from the bottom up."

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee will head the new department, with an interim chief executive, Deputy State Services Commissioner John Ombler, in charge of Cera operations for the first two months.

The Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act, passed after last year's September quake, will be replaced with legislation expected to go before Parliament in two weeks.

The new law will give Cera wide-ranging powers to relax, suspend or extend laws and regulations in order to rebuild the city.

It will be set up to carry on work for five years, with a yearly review.

"These are extraordinary powers for extraordinary times," Prime Minister John Key said.

"They are necessary to get on with the job, and to achieve the outcomes that the people of Christchurch and the wider region want."

Billions of taxpayer dollars would be spent rebuilding the city, and accountability for that would be sheeted back to the Government, Key said.

The authority would be based in Christchurch, and made up largely of staff seconded from government departments.

It would collate post-quake data to inform decisions about rebuilding priorities.

Alongside Cera, Brownlee announced what he said would be checks on its powers.

A four-person independent review panel would consider legislative and regulatory changes proposed by Cera.

A retired High Court judge would chair the panel, but would have only three days to consider changes.

Brownlee said there would also be a cross-party forum of local MPs to offer advice. Within about three weeks, he would also appoint a forum of about 20 Canterbury community leaders.

Appeal rights would be "slightly truncated", but people could still seek a judicial review of ministerial decisions, and legal challenges to the High Court could be lodged within 10 days of a decision.

The authority would also be subject to the Official Information Act.

Knight said the over-riding influence of the Cera strategy suggested its philosophy "will dominate".

"The risk of the new Cera is that it will shut out the local community and cut across established processes of local democracy," Knight said.

Knight was among a group of 26 constitutional experts who raised concerns over the legislation passed after the September earthquake.

Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis, who led the international group, said the new authority appeared to be "a marked improvement" on the last round of legislation.

"That said, the devil will really lie in the details of the as yet unseen legislation."

 

- The Press

Labour finds fault with quake advisory group

JOHN HARTEVELT

Last updated 05:00 30/03/2011

 

A cross-party group formed to advise the new Earthquake Recovery Authority has been dismissed as "meaningless".

Labour's earthquake recovery spokesman, Clayton Cosgrove, said yesterday the party would "give the bureaucrats a chance" and support the new structure announced yesterday.

However, Labour would propose "substantial amendments" to the legislation, expected before Parliament in two weeks.

"My fear remains that the new authority will unleash hundreds of Wellington bureaucrats with clipboards and pens tripping over their own red tape as they seek to impose their solutions on Canterbury people," Cosgrove said.

A cross-party parliamentary group of list and electorate MPs from the greater Christchurch area was yesterday named as part of the quake recovery governance structure.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said the group would be written into legislation and serviced by the new authority.

"It will have an ability to provide a flow of information and ideas through the process. No-one is claiming that they have a lock on how everything should be done here," he said.

Cosgrove dismissed the new group as "meaningless".

"It's another name for briefings, for goodness sake. The truth is that Mr Brownlee has not listened to any of the suggestions that we have made."

Cosgrove said the planned forum of community leaders proposed by Brownlee was also a concern.

"It is going to 20 anointed mates of Gerry Brownlee," Cosgrove said. "If he thinks that is going to provide grassroots engagement, then I don't think that is acceptable."

Prime Minister John Key said there would be enough support to pass the legislation, although he expected Labour to vote against it.

People would consider the success or otherwise of the structure on election day, Key said.

"One of the questions that Cantabrians will want to ask, is if this is not the plan and the right structure, then what is the right structure?" he said.

"If Labour want to put up an alternative, that's called democracy, but I think for the people of Canterbury, they will want to be absolutely sure that what they are replacing it with is better."

Green Party spokesman Kennedy Graham said the role of the cross-party group was unclear and might need to be strengthened.

"Having the people of Christchurch represented in the authority is vital. While the Government is making the right noises, we will be monitoring the new authority to try to make sure that it is accountable to Cantabrians," Graham said.

Kitchen likely to get hot

JOHN HARTEVELT

Last updated 05:00 30/03/2011

 

OPINION: The recipe cooked up for Christchurch's earthquake recovery is on the table – and it's big.

However, the proof of Gerry's pudding will be in the eating.

In the mix he revealed yesterday, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee had clearly made an effort to toss in some sweeteners for the Christchurch City Council.

He had also curbed his natural instinct to scoff at constitutional niceties and thrown in some controls on the enormous powers given to his new authority.

He reckoned it struck the right balance between the need to get on with it, and to be considerate about what people want.

"We're not confusing the need to have a massively inclusive structure with the need to get action, and I think we've got a good balance here," Brownlee said.

There was something else, however, that was more significant.

That was his acknowledgement that the work of the next five years would need to be doused in "goodwill, unity and determination" to work. No kidding.

The structure is such that Christchurch simply has to trust that the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) and Brownlee will get it right.

There will be big decisions of the "blink and you miss it" variety.

It seems unlikely, for example, that Cera will send for its community leader or cross-party groups for their views on much of what it decides. Those groups are more likely to come back to Cera with grumbles about decisions.

And the panel set up to review orders in council proposed by Cera will likely be needed only to iron out the wording of regulatory and legal measures.

The real stress will come over the division of power between Cera and the city council.

There will surely be things that Cera chooses to do that the council does not like.

And there will be things that the council wants to do that Cera will reject.

Brownlee yesterday stood ready for that clash.

Mayor Bob Parker, on the other hand, seemed almost absurdly optimistic that everyone would be satisfied by their share of Gerry's desserts.