River of Arts
Audio, Radio New Zealand
Arts Voice Chrischurch is planning to create a 'river of arts' as part of Christchurch's post-earthquake rebuild.
Arts Voice Chrischurch is planning to create a 'river of arts' as part of Christchurch's post-earthquake rebuild.
About 700 people packed Christchurch's Cardboard Cathedral last night to hear from a panel of experts on why, four years after the big earthquake, they're still waiting for their homes to be rebuilt.
The earthquakes in Canterbury may have brought tragedy and economic hardship for many, but Christchurch business leaders say they're now seeing renewed signs of improving business confidence.
Thousands of Christchurch residents have shared their views on how the central city should be rebuilt after February's catastrophic earthquake.
A plan to revitalise the centre of the small rural service town of Kaiapoi will be fast-tracked in the wake of the Canterbury earthquake.
The government is crowdsourcing the cyclone recovery bill. It has launched an international fundraising effort, modelled on the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal - which raised almost $100 million. A separate special Lotto draw will also be held on March 18 with all proceeds going to affected communities. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has urged New Zealanders to get behind the effort. He defended asking people to chip in when the cost-of-living is so high.
The statue of the Antarctic explorer, Robert Falcon Scott, that toppled from its plinth and snapped at its ankles in the Christchurch earthquake is being repaired. all going well it will be reinstated later this year, just in time for the Antarctic summer.
A Christchurch couple locked in an ongoing legal battle with state-owned quake insurer Southern Response says it is sobering for a Court of Appeal decision to go their way, one decade on from the harrowing earthquakes. An earlier High Court decision found Southern Response guilty of misleading and deceptive behaviour when it short-changed Karl and Alison Dodds tens of thousands of dollars after their quake damaged house was written off. The Dodds say they were tricked into accepting a lower offer from Southern Response only to later discover the insurer had kept secret from them a second higher estimate to rebuild their damaged house, a so-called second secret detailed repair and rebuild analysis (DRA). The High Court ordered Southern Response to pay the Dodds almost $180,000 in damages, plus costs. But the government appealed the decision, saying it needed clarity, because of the thousands of similar cases it could be liable for. The Court of Appeal reduced the damages Southern Response has to pay $10,656.44 due to an earlier error in calculations. The Minister responsible Grant Robertson has declined to be interviewed. Southern Response also declined to be interviewed. Neither have ruled out appealing the decision in the Supreme Court.
Listening to that was the Earthquake Recovery Authority chief executive Roger Sutton.
A Canterbury University engineer says building standards need to be upgraded before rebuilding begins in the earthquake battered region.
The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Commission is promising swift changes following criticism of the rebuilding efforts necessitated by September's big quake.
Aid agencies in Canterbury say the earthquake recovery is putting buildings before people.
Earthquake engineers working on the rebuild of Christchurch have been told they are in the most painful part, two years on.
The Social Development Minister, Paula Bennett, says there are thousands of unemployed people in Christchurch who could help rebuild the city.
More on allegations from the Earthquake Commission that some contractors have been filing false invoices for work done on the Christchurch rebuild.
The Japanese earthquake may have an impact on plans by the government to borrow more to meet the earthquake rebuilding in Christchurch.
Nearly two years' after Christchurch's February earthquake and almost 6 months after the blueprint for the city centre was revealed, many questions remain about how much it will cost and who will pay for it.
Nikki Ross is still waiting on an insurance settlement almost seven years after her family home was damaged in the February, 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Trish Keith from EQC says they're hoping to offer the family a settlement in the next three weeks.
Some Canterbury homeowners are worried that missed earthquake damage to concrete slabs could result in another big bill for the taxpayer. This comes only weeks after EQC told Checkpoint that the cost of mis-scoped damage or defective repairs following the Canterbury earthquakes could cost up to $1 billion. This includes $450 million for botched repairs, including badly repaired rubble ring foundations, and $300 million for an ex gratia payment to about 1000 over-cap onsold homeowners. But some Canterbury homeowners who bought after the earthquakes - and did their due diligence - are only discovering damage to their concrete slab foundations now. Logan Church reports.
The Labour Party has accused the Government of sitting on money set aside to provide skills training needed for the Canterbury earthquake rebuild.
"Extraordinary powers for extraordinary times."The Government says that's what it's giving to the new Christchurch earthquake authority it's set up to lead the rebuild.
The Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee is denying accusations he's about to engineer a central government takeover of the rebuild of central city Christchurch.
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.
The Catholic basilica in Christchurch was further damaged in Monday's earthquake making its demolition all but inevitable.
It's more than eight years since the earthquakes saw Christchurch crumble. Forty billion dollars has been poured into rebuilding - but what's missing now, is people.
The Royal Commission into the Canterbury earthquakes has been told illegal building techniques are being used in the Christchurch rebuild because the engineering profession is in crisis.
The country's political parties are uncertain about whether a special tax might be needed to help pay to rebuild Christchurch after this week's devastating earthquake.
More information on the earthquake zones in Canterbury has been revealed, and some people will soon be told they won't have to abandon their properties.
The All Blacks have announced this morning that they'll play an extra test match this year, to raise money for the rebuild of Christchurch.
The Prime Minister, has promised people in Canterbury they will know next Wednesday whether they can rebuild on ground badly damaged by this month's earthquake.