Christchurch: return of 60-thousand quake 'refugees'

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Civil Defence says as many as sixty thousand people are expected to return to Christchurch after fleeing the city because of last month's earthquake.

Hundreds of Christchurch firms expected to fail post quake

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Most Christchurch firms are back on their feet a month after the devastating earthquake, but it remains a difficult city to do business in.

Up to 50 additional buildings damaged in red zone

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority says today's aftershocks have caused up to 50 additional buildings in the city's redzone to collapse or partially collapse.

Latest earthquakes leave women's refuges overflowing

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch Womens Refuge says its safe houses are full as women have fled the worsening domestic violence in the city following June's powerful aftershocks.

Earthquake Recovery Minister denies central govt takeover

Audio, Radio New Zealand

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.

Sediment tsunami choking Christchurch streams

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A freshwater biologist says a tsunami of sediment and sand caused by the Canterbury earthquakes is choking the city's riverbeds and killing aquatic life.

Christchurch looks to rebuild its tourism potential

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch hotels lost a million guest nights in the year following the February earthquake, but tourism in the city is now picking up again.

Christchurch pod-styled backpackers a NZ first

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A backpackers with pod-styled units has opened near Christchurch Airport as the city continues to struggle with budget accommodation following the 2011 earthquake.

Living with Earthquakes

Audio, Radio New Zealand

It might feel like the Christchurch earthquakes struck a lifetime ago, but the city and its residents are still recovering, both physically and mentally.

Warning that a return to pre-quake housing levels not enough

Audio, Radio New Zealand

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.

What Christchurch needs 7 years on

Audio, Radio New Zealand

One of the heroes from the Christchurch earthquake gives his take on where the city is at today and what needs to be done.

Third Canterbury council in insurance strife

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch city and Waimakariri District councils have from today got no insurance cover for future earthquakes after their existing policies expired at 4pm.

Chch council workers on standby incase of more flooding

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch city council says today's flooding would have been much worse had it not been for post-earthquake upgrades to the storm water system.

Super-Council may be on the Cards for Canterbury

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A super council, along the lines of Auckland city could be on the cards in Canterbury, but not until the earthquake recovery is well underway.

Community groups upset about wastewater rebuild plans

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Some Christchurch community groups say a programme to rebuild the city's wastewater and storm water systems to a pre-earthquake equivalent isn't good enough.

Rebuilding Christchurch will take time and money

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The task of rebuilding Christchurch is being compared to what was required to restore the Japanese city of Kobe after its massive earthquake in 1995.

Council building chief outlines stickering process

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The collapsed PGC and CTV buildings in the Christchurch CBD were both"green stickered"by city council inspectors following the earthquake in September last year.

Christchurch council grilled over buildings at quake commission

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch City Council has faced tough questioning at the Royal Commission into the Canterbury earthquakes over its role in ensuring buildings are earthquake strengthened.

Engineers seek answers about CTV building

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A victim's family and engineers are seeking answers from the Christchurch City Council on why the earthquake-devastated CTV building was allowed to be built.

The latest on the 7.1 earthquake in Canterbury

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Thousands of people are being evacuated from the Christchurch city centre with Civil Defence officials saying its simply too dangerous for residents to stay there.

Business owners faced hard decision to leave Christchurch

Audio, Radio New Zealand

When the earthquake demolished Christchurch's central business district, some business owners had no option but to pack up and start again in a different city.

Work continues to restore water supply to homes

Audio, Radio New Zealand

For the latest on the damage caused by Monday's earthquakes, we're joined by the Christchurch City Council's water and waste unit manager, Mark Christison.

A San Franciscan view of Christchurch

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Spud Hilton knows what it's like to feel the fear of a large scale earthquake. As the Travel Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, he lives in a city on a fault line. Spud Hilton has just published an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the status of Christchurch as a tourist destination and as a city that must rebuild, rethink and reinvent itself.

Christchurch earthquakes unveil window into past

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Canterbury earthquakes succeeded in all but destroying modern-day Christchurch, but from the rubble has emerged a surprising bonus - an insight into the city's history.

Economics ensures a high level of Chch rubble recycling

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A year and a half after the February Earthquake, economics has ensured much of the waste material coming out of Christchurch's central city has been recycled.

Deconstruction of central Christchurch back on track

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The removal of rubble from the earthquake-stricken centre of Christchurch will start again today, once the worst of the ice in the central city melts.

'Think of people not buildings' - CHCH property owner

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Some Christchurch building owners say a bulldozer's the best option, despite the city council calling for government help to rebuild heritage buildings damaged by the earthquake.

Passengers on redzone bus shocked at devastation

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch residents who've finally been allowed in to the earthquake ravaged inner-city redzone say the devastation was far worse than they had ever imagined.

Royal Commission to hear plea for upgrade to old buildings

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission will hear this week that the cost of upgrading the city's unreinforced masonry buildings is more than the buildings are worth.

Royal couple to meet families of quake victims in Christchurch

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Today the Royal couple head to Christchurch, a city with which the Prince has built strong ties, since the earthquakes rocked the region three years ago.