Brighter Future: Govt's Chch earthquake decisions
Audio, Radio New Zealand
'Is this the Brighter Future?': Rachel Graham looks at how the Government's decisions have impacted the lives of people in Christchurch.
'Is this the Brighter Future?': Rachel Graham looks at how the Government's decisions have impacted the lives of people in Christchurch.
There's been widespread dismay at the decision not to prosecute anyone for the deaths of 115 people in the CTV building collapse during the 2011 Canterbury earthquake. Police say it was a tough decision - they wanted to hold someone to account but there simply wasn't the evidence to warrant a prosecution.
The Government has a clear picture of what areas of Christchurch cannot be rebuilt because of earthquake damage but will not reveal them yet.
One hundred or so people who live in Christchurch's port hills have faced off with earthquake recovery leaders in a heated debate over zoning decisions.
The Prime Minister and the Earthquake Recovery Minister are poised to announce decisions on the fate of homes on quake damaged land in Christchurch.
More than ten weeks after being damaged beyond repair by the Christchurch earthquake, there is still no decision about how or when the Grand Chancellor Hotel will be demolished.
The heritage sector says the earthquake recovery minister shouldn't be hasty when it comes to heritage buildings in Christchurch.
Business owners have told the Christchurch City Council they are haemorrhaging thousands of dollars a week, while it decides whether or not to demolish their buildings following last month's earthquake.
The Anglican church yesterday announced members of Canterbury's synod will now decide the earthquake damaged cathedral's future at its meeting in September.
The decision on what to do with Christchurch's earthquake damaged redzone is one step closer, with the end of the public consultation period on the plan for the area. Over the past month Christchurch people have been asked to comment on a draft land use plan for the 602 hectares of land. Now those pitching ideas want the authorities to get on with the next step, so they can have some certainty about whether their projects can go ahead.
As part of the future of Christchurch it is expected a third of all Catholic and almost half of all Presbyterian churches damaged in Christchurch's February earthquake might not be rebuilt.
The Catholic basilica in Christchurch was further damaged in Monday's earthquake making its demolition all but inevitable.
A decision on the future of Christchurch's red zoned land could be made within a year. That's the hope of the man at the helm of Regenerate Christchurch, one of two organisations charged with taking over the city's rebuild from the Earthquake Recovery Authority, which shuts its doors in just three days.
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.
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.
An insurance expert says a Supreme Court decision yesterday could open lawyers up to legal action from anybody who has bought a home in Christchurch since the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. The court's decision makes it clear that insurers cannot be held liable for meeting the full replacement cost of a quake damaged home by the subsequent purchaser of that house.
Residents of Christchurch's flood-prone Flockton Basin say a court judgment on how the Earthquake Commission handles claims based on the increased flood risk caused by the earthquakes is bitter sweet.
A lawyer says a District Court ruling could set a precedent for hundreds of people with PTSD. The ruling directs ACC to cover the medical costs of a Christchurch builder who volunteered in the earthquake rescue effort, but was later hit with PTSD.
Lyttelton Port is applauding a government decision to use the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act to speed up the redevelopment of the badly damaged port.
The former Earthquake Recovery Minister's decision to exclude uninsured Canterbury landowners under the Recovery Plan was unlawful, the Court of Appeal has ruled in an interim judgement.
The Labour Christchurch East MP Lianne Dalziel says the city council has made a terrible decision about how it organises help for earthquake victims and it needs to be changed urgently.
People living in Christchurch's orange zone will have to wait longer than expected for a decision on whether they can remain in their homes, after the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority missed one of its deadlines.
Some residents in orange zoned areas in Christchurch are worried the latest series of earthquakes will further delay the decision on whether they can remain in their homes.
The Earthquake Recovery Minister, Gerry Brownlee, is offside with the business community in Christchurch over the decision to permanently relocate nearly 500 public servants outside of the central business district.
Professional and personal partners Victoria Flight and John Drew about the nutritional benefits of coconut oil, and the decision to develop their business 'Blue Coconut' after experiencing a deeply traumatic event in Christchurch's earthquake of February 2011.
The Minister for Earthquake Recovery, Gerry Brownlee, has been accused in the High Court in Christchurch of abusing his powers and doing deals which allowed councils and Christchurch Airport to get their own way over zoning decisions.
The Governors Bay community weren't going to accept a Christchurch council decision to close the 140 year old jetty following earthquake damage in 2011. Nick Harwood's part of the group and handily a geotechnical engineer.
Opposition parties fear a new department to control the rebuilding of Christchurch will be Wellington-centric and not allow the community to have its fair say in decisions. The Labour Party's spokesperson on the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, Clayton Cosgrove, spoke to our political editor Brent Edwards.
Some of the families of the 115 people who dies in the CTV building during the 2011 Canterbury earthquake protested in Latimer Square yesterday over the police decision not to prosecute the designers of the CTV building. They say they do want to see a prosecution go ahead, and they are seeking legal advice about what their options are.
In the years that have followed the devastating Christchurch earthquake, there have been many stories of the struggles people have faced. Tonight we bring you the tale of the little school in Christchurch's east that took on Wellington's big decision makers and won. Redcliffs School finally reopened last year, after spending the best part of a decade battling for its survival. Our reporter Nick Truebridge and cameraman Nate McKinnon caught up with Redcliffs' principal Rose McInerney to reflect on a tumultuous last 10 years.