Reports swirl of new head of Earthquake Recovery Authority
Audio, Radio New Zealand
A senior Wellington public servant is reported to be the new head of the authority that will oversee the Canterbury earthquake recovery effort.
A senior Wellington public servant is reported to be the new head of the authority that will oversee the Canterbury earthquake recovery effort.
Radio New Zealand has had to abandon the Christchurch building that was our base and the home of Sound Archives - Nga Taonga Korero. In this edition of The Vault; Deborah Nation draws on recordings made on the day an earthquake finally evicted her and the other people there.
Canterbury residents who haven't seen hide nor hair of a Earthquake Commission inspector have been told they might need to make a fresh claim to get noticed.
The David and Goliath battle over a heritage building sitting in the way of a planned $473 million dollar, multi-use arena for Christchurch has ended up in court. The 25,000-seated, roofed arena is the final anchor project for the Christchurch rebuild and will be designed to host everything from All Blacks tests to big concerts. But sitting on the edge of the site, at 212 Madras Street, is the NG Building, a 115-year old warehouse that's home to a number of creative businesses. It escaped the worst of the 2011 earthquake and was strengthened by its owners: Roland Logan and Sharon Ng. They say they were told in 2013 the building could be incorporated into the arena's design, and are at loggerheads over its compulsory acquisition. Last week they were at the High Court seeking an injunction that would allow them to temporarily maintain ownership of the building, and that decision was released yesterday - and upheld. Roland joins Kathryn to discuss why they hope the building can be saved.
Christchurch’s new $92m central city library opened today – replacing the former library which was damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes. But as Logan Church discovers, with sewing suites, a TV wall and a music studio, this library is home to more than rows and rows of books.
More than 600 Christchurch home-owners face a wait of up to 18 months before its decided who foots the bill for earthquake repairs that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The problem - first revealed on Checkpoint in March - is that owners bought homes thinking all quake damage had been identified and fixed - only to find more problems that weren't addressed. The people affected cannot claim on their insurance - because the damage pre-dates them buying the house - and any grant from the Earthquake Commission is capped. EQC has publicly apologised to those affected but the Minster, Megan Woods, says it's unclear who will pay for the needed repairs.
Canterbury mayors say their ratepayers are already paying for earthquake recovery, roading, water and storm water infrastructure, so a shiny new Christchurch stadium is way down the priority list.
The former Christchurch East Labour Party MP, Lianne Dalziel, is now the Mayor of Christchurch and, as such, is set to work much more closely with her former political foe, Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee.
Residents of Christchurch's coastal suburbs around New Brighton are being promised they won't have to wait another decade for an urgently needed new bridge. The existing one is a critical emergency escape route but is almost 100 years old and suffered significant damage in the 2011 earthquake. And as Timothy Brown reports, plans for an upgrade are grinding slowly ahead.
A new survey shows New Zealand insurers are worried the industry's reputation could be ruined if it does not deal well with the huge number of claims from the Christchurch earthquakes.
Radio New Zealand Economics Correspondent reports from outside AMI Stadium.
Radio New Zealand reporter Rachel Graham is in Latimer Square.
Pete Connors is the New Zealand Transport Agency Operations Manager.
Documents obtained by Radio New Zealand show WorkSafe New Zealand was still grappling to get on top of asbestos dangers in the Christchurch rebuild nearly two years after the February 2011 earthquake.
Paul Norris is from The New Zealand Broadcasting School at CPIT.
The man who documented the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes with the film 'When A City Falls' says this week's plan for a new Christchurch CBD will forge a new path for the damaged city.
Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 8 October. This week.....Canterbury marks a month since its earthquake, a co-producer of The Hobbit speaks out about union activity threatening the film's production in New Zealand, can the Commonwealth Games media stomach Delhi, Michael Caine talks about his new autobiography and we get the lowdown on whitebait.
Monique Devereux is a Christchurch resident and former Radio New Zealand reporter.
Karen Neill from the Sound Archives at Radio New Zealand's Christchurch office.
Hundreds of children and 12 schools have pre-registered for swimming lessons at Christchurch's new Taiora QE2 sports centre, which opens today. The Canterbury earthquakes damaged the complex beyond repair, and almost six years after it was demolished, a new QE2 has risen from rubble - admittedly smaller and without the athletics track the old one was so well known for. Schools in particular are welcoming today's opening, after having to spend big bucks on transport to get their students to pools for lessons since the quakes. Logan Church reports.
A support group is being credited for helping Cantabrians settle in Nelson after escaping the earthquakes.
When the destructive February earthquake hit Christchurch, one of our reporters, Bridget Mills, was recording an interview at the very moment the earth started shaking.
When the destructive February earthquake hit Christchurch, one of our reporters, Bridget Mills, was recording an interview at the very moment the earth started shaking.
A structural engineer has denied he rushed the inspection of earthquake repairs to a Christchurch bar so it could re-open in time for New Years Eve.
The insurance company, Tower, has strongly criticised the time it's taking to settle Canterbury earthquake claims and says the insurance system for handling such disasters is broken.
Relatives of the victims of February's earthquake in Christchurch are backing a new police inquiry into how people were rescued in the aftermath of the disaster.
RNZ is launching a new podcast today marking the tenth anniversary of Christchurch earthquake. It's called Fragments: Firsthand accounts of the February 2011 earthquakes. The podcast features interviews done with quake survivors recorded in the months following the devastating earthquake recorded by locals Julie Hutton and Sandra Close. RNZ checked in with some of the people Hutton and Close spoke to ten years on from the disaster. Katy Gosset produced and presented the podcast. An earlier version of this article failed to reference the work from Julie Hutton and Sandra Close.
New research shows that if a major earthquake ruptures the Alpine Fault Christchurch is likely to suffer more intense damage than some areas closer to the fault.
After years of disruption caused by the Christchurch earthquakes, two schools have finally started moving into their new state of the art facilities. Avonside Girls' High School and Shirley Boys' High School have begun moving students into their new shared but separate campus on the grounds of the old QEII Park in north New Brighton. Some of the features include, a moveable gym, bike stands with spanners and air pumps, and a rock climbing wall. It will be the first time in New Zealand two single-sex schools have been on the same site. Guyon Espiner speaks to Avonside Girls' High principal Sue Hume and Shirley Boys' High School principal John Laurenson.
Christchurch homeowners speak to Checkpoint about their battles with EQC, to have their homes repaired to "as new" standard, not "pre earthquake".