Earthquake Recovery Minister denies lobbying claims
Audio, Radio New Zealand
The Earthquake Recovery Minister and the Insurance Council both deny that insurance companies pressured the Government to relax building guidelines in Canterbury.
The Earthquake Recovery Minister and the Insurance Council both deny that insurance companies pressured the Government to relax building guidelines in Canterbury.
An overseas expert has defended the structural engineer who declared the Canterbury Television building sound after the September 2010 earthquake.
The Royal Commission into the Canterbury earthquakes has been told of new deficiencies in the structure of the CTV Building.
From the time it opened in the 1920s, the Winter Garden ballroom was the place to go for debutante balls and big-band concerts in Christchurch. Queen Elizabeth II even dined there during her visit in 1954. But this special part of Christchurch's history is over and the Armagh Street building has been placed on the urgent demolition list because of earthquake damage. Tiny Kirk is the chairman of the Trade Union Centre which has owned the building since 1984.
The Royal Commission into the Canterbury Earthquakes has heard the CTV building collapsed because of the incompetence of the man in charge of designing it.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Canterbury earthquakes concludes its hearing into the collapse of the Pyne Gould building today.
Richard is a retired High School Art/Design teacher who is now making architectural models of houses and public buildings - some destroyed in the Christchurch earthquakes.
People who want the Christchurch Town Hall restored are optimistic the City Council will today commit to saving the earthquake damaged building.
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.
American social-psychologist Tara Powell on the challenges of building confidence in children who have been traumatised by a natural disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina or the Christchurch earthquake.
West Auckland residents begin the cleanup after yesterday's tornado. The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission calls for the seismic grading of all non-residential buildings.
Why is the Royal Commission into Building Collapses in the Christchurch Earthquake not apportioning blame? Christchurch lawyer Grant Cameron represented the victims of the Cave Creek Tragedy.
The Christchurch City Council has been questioned over whether it was playing russian roulette with its citizens with its rules on earthquake prone buildings.
The man who designed the CTV building that collapsed in the Christchurch earthquake has effectively scuttled any investigation into him by the Institution of Professional Engineers.
Construction delays and cost over-runs are prolonging the earthquake risks facing patients and staff at Christchurch hospital. Six major hospital buildings at the central city site have been listed as earthquake prone since May, but there is no safer space to shift patients into. Christchurch Hospital boss David Meates pron; Mates says the hospital is still basically a construction site. One earthquake prone building has roof tanks containing 75 tonnes of water. Mr Meates told RNZ reporter Phil Pennington removing the water from the tanks in the meantime is not an option.
A report into why Statistics House failed in the November earthquake has revealed a design flaw in the building, and the Government says all buildings nationwide like Statistics House will now need checking. Christchurch man Jeremy Teaguea wants to overturn the law making wearing a bike helment compulsory. Former cyclone Debbie will make her presence felt here over the next week. Weatherman Richard Green tells us what to expect. Going up for Labour and a downward turn in the polls for National. Is it really because of Jacinda Ardern and Bill English?
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission has heard how close the city's tallest building came to collapsing entirely during the February 22nd earthquake.
A lack of building inspections and the engineers to carry them out has come under further scrutiny at the Royal Commission of inquiry into the Canterbury earthquakes.
A structural engineer has told the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission that illegal building techniques are being used in the Christchurch rebuild because the engineering profession is in crisis.
As for the demolition of the building, The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority deconstruction manager, Warwick Isaacs, says while it will be managed carefully, it is still risky.
The Royal Commission hearings into the Canterbury earthquake begin in Christchurch today to examine why some of the newer buildings in the city's CBD failed so badly.
The Christchurch City Council has admitted it failed to provide a second line of defence in checks on a building that killed a woman during last February's earthquake.
The Coroner will today hear more evidence about the more than 60 language students who perished in the Canterbury Television building when it collapsed in February's earthquake.
The support has been outstanding for those with damaged homes, buildings and farm infrastructure, but some are still too shattered to really know what to get the keen helpers to do.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission has tried to determine exactly who should have put a cordon around a central Christchurch building identified as an earthquake risk.
Witnesses before the Canterbury Earthquake Royal Commission have been questioned over whether preservation of heritage buildings was given more consideration than preserving human lives.
When the Canterbury earthquakes brought about the destruction of almost all of the buildings in central Christchurch, it created a unique opportunity for an insight into the past.
Professor of Timber Design at the University of Canterbury, who is playing a key role in the international resurgence in the use of timber for large-scale buildings.
The Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee says it would be an absolute disaster for Christchurch, if the City Council stopped issuing building consents next week.
Panellists Neil Miller and Zoe George discuss a breakthrough in multi-storey buildings for earthquakes with Ben Moerman, a PHD student from the University of Canterbury studying Civil Engineering.