A Christchurch man who's made his name battling the Earthquake Commission says he has secured a forty-five-million-dollar joint venture with a Chinese company that will regenerate Christchurch's residential areas.
A project manager for a company doing home repairs in the Christchurch earthquake rebuild says it is highly likely as many as 60-thousand people have been exposed to potentially lethal asbestos fibres.
Nine to Noon has been told that the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is leading a multiagency group - including the Earthquake Commission, Fletcher Construction's EQR and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet - to try to identify which houses may have have had a high risk of containing asbestos and thereby quantify how many people may have been exposed. With Graham Darlow, Chief executive of Fletcher Construction and Gerry Brownlee, Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery.
Investigations into handling of asbestos in Canterbury earthquake repairs and a man's appeared in court charged with the murder of the Auckland woman, Blessie Gotingco.
Some Canterbury homeowners are rejecting assurances from authorities that they wouldn't have been exposed to asbestos in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes.
There's a warning that a return to pre-earthquake numbers of houses in Christchurch may not be enough to ease the city's housing crisis.
Nearly seven years on from the Christchurch earthquake, some quake damaged homeowners with unresolved insurance claims say they are being driven to the point of complete exhaustion.
EQC said it would provide the Ross family with a cash settlement by February 20, almost seven years to the day since the Christchurch earthquake. Now it's commissioning another rebuild estimate.
The only Christchurch street still closed following the 2011 earthquake will reopen later in 2018 only to close again in 2019 so the council can extend the route for the tram. The proposal has raised the ire of fledgling businesses along High st worried about the disruption the road works will cause them and wanting the work done now, before they open their doors to the public.
Christchurch builders are worried asbestos repairs in the earthquake rebuild will continue to cause problems for years to come.
Christchurch's historic Theatre Royal will reopen for business in November, with bookings about to open for the first show, the Royal New Zealand Ballet season of "A Christmas Carol" The 106-year old theatre has been closed for almost four years because of earthquake damage in the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. The $40million rebuild and restoration project will be completed over the next five months and on 17 November 2014, the 'Grand Old Lady' of New Zealand theatre will reopen her doors for performances. With so few venues for performance left in the city, including the Town Hall out of commission indefinitely, the rebuild of the Theatre Royal is very good news for Christchurch audiences Chief executive Neil Cox explains the process of getting oldest Edwardian theatre in the country back in use and mounting the large scale theatrical productions it has been famous for.
The public policy think tank, the New Zealand Initiative, says this country is still under-prepared for the next big earthquake. The group of economists has reviewed the policy response to the Canterbury earthquakes and has just released its report: Recipe for disaster: Building policy on shaky ground. It says recovery from the quakes was hindered by avoidable policy mistakes that still haven't been addressed. One of the report's co authors Dr Eric Crampton joins Susie Ferguson to discuss the issues.
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.
The woman who guided the Christchurch Art Gallery through the "earthquake years" is our guest today. Jenny Harper is retiring from the gallery in March and she shares her favourite books and things with Jesse.
Ravenscar House Museum holds an extraordinary, previously private art collection. The new building has been gifted to Christchurch by art collectors Susan Wakefield and her late husband Jim. The art remains in the ownership of the Ravenscar Trust. Artists in the collection include Colin McCahon, Bill Sutton and Frances Hodgkins. The treasures were previously in the Wakefield's Christchurch home which suffered irreparable earthquake damage. They're now displayed in the purpose-designed and built Ravenscar House Museum in the city's Arts precinct. The story of the art and artefacts is told in in the book - Ravenscar House: A Biography, written by Christchurch journalist and writer Sally Blundell.
In this week’s programme we’re featuring evening hymns, and you can hear a setting of Psalm 23 – it’ll be the third in our series so far. We’re also commemorating the Feast Day of German theologian Martin Luther, and the 11th anniversary of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
The families of those who died in the CTV building collapse in Christchurch's 2011 earthquake say they will continue to fight for justice.
Rocket Lab's Electron rocket launch today on the Mahia Peninsula has been scrubbed again, sadly. A power fault this time. Kaikoura residents and businesses are celebrating the re-opening of State Highway 1 north following a year of earthquake repairs. The coastal highway link between Picton and Christchurch was badly damaged during the November 2016 quake but will now re-open during the day from 7am. It will close at 8:30 each night so more repairs and assesments can be done. Kaikoura Top Ten Holiday Park co-owner Ed Nolan tells us what this means for his business and others in the town. The Prime Minister Jainda Ardern says the Government's new families package will reduce child poverty in the country by 48 per cent. We ask the panellists whether this is realistic or if there are other, more entrenched imprediments to lowering poverty in New Zealand. The panellists also discuss the state of the books, and discuss if they worry about national debt iincreasing, as the opposition has warned. The Prime Minister says wealthy New Zealanders can opt out of the Government's Winter Energy Payment, which will see those on a benefit, NZ Superannuation or a Veterans Pension get an extra boost due the winter season. Many are doubtful that will happen though. The panellists discuss why some wealthy people have missed out on tax cuts only to be able to reap the reward of this package. We also ask if they suspect this money will be used for heating purposes. The University of Otago has a new degree which brings science and art together, the BaSc. It aims to break down barriers between the two disciplines. Two students are graduating the degree this week. We talk to Eirenie Taua'i who has been studying Pacific Studies and Neuroscience. We aslk her what careers she is considering now and what it was like to study to very different courses. The families of those who died in the CTV building collapse in Christchurch's 2011 earthquake say they will continue to fight for justice. Police announced earlier this month they won't be prosecuting the engineers of the building after a three-year long investigation. The families met with police to ask and why say they aren't convinced all has been done. We ask panellist, barrister Jonathan Krebs, if other charges could and should be laid.
It's seven years today since Christchurch was rocked by the magnitude 6.3 earthquake. It killed 185 people, injured thousands more and led to whole suburbs and most of the central city being demolished. Seven years on, the rebuild is still underway and some residents are still struggling to get the repairs they want.
Today marks seven years since the devastating Christchurch Earthquake. We turn out attention to the Garden City, first celebrating the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra’s 60th anniversary with violinist Natalia Lomeiko, then organist Martin Setchell on the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church organ rising from the rubble.
Canterbury organist Martin Setchell gives the inaugural recital on an organ that’s more than 100 years old. He explains how the instrument survived the February 22nd earthquake even though the church crumbled around it, why it was important to save it, and how the latest technology has being integrated into the restored organ..
One of the heroes from the Christchurch earthquake gives his take on where the city is at today and what needs to be done.
The famous evangelist preacher, Billy Graham, has died age 99. Salvation is the topic of today's half-time discussion on The Panel. Julia Hartley Moore and James Nokise each have topics they want to talk about. One of the heroes from the Christchurch earthquake gives his take on where the city is at today and what needs to be done. Will beer-wine be a terrible idea or will it kick off? Worst. Olympian. Ever... with full stops between the words. That is a real Twitter-sryle putdown. It's alluding to Hungarian halfpipe skier Elizabeth Swaney. This year's New Zealander of the year will be announced at an award ceremony in Auckland tonight. It's between Mike King, Kristine Bartlett and Dr Siouxsie Wiles.
The names of each individual killed by the Christchurch earthquake were read one after the other at a memorial service to commemorate the quake's seventh anniversary today.
A Canterbury woman has finally settled an insurance claim seven years to the day her family home was damaged in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Javier and Jackie Garcia Knight look back on the earthquake that changed Christchurch and New Zealand forever.
The much loved 'Dux de Lux' pub in Christchurch could be set to open its doors again in the next few years if enough money can be raised to restore it. The building was badly damaged by the earthquake in 2011 and a group looking to rebuild the pub say it could take around 12 million dollars to see it welcoming Cantabrians back. James Stewart of Gemelli Consulting had a yarn with Nathan Rarere about a couple of schemes to raise the money.
The cleared site, where 115 lost their lives in the February 22, 2011 earthquake, has been turned into a memorial garden, which is intended to be a place for reflection and rememberance.
Four years ago Christchurch City Council vowed to get tough on the owners of 30 central city buildings left derelict since the 2011 earthquake. A wander through central Christchurch shows many of the buildings, nicknamed the dirty 30, still look unchanged. There are boarded up windows, tarps covering gaping holes, and containers keeping bricks from falling on passers by. But council says progress is finally being made on most Rachel Graham has more.
Forty law students in Christchurch are volunteering their time to help local residents take the Earthquake Commission to the High Court.