Canterbury Earthquake - Jim Palmer
Audio, Radio New Zealand
Jim Palmer is the CEO of the Waimakariri District Council.
Jim Palmer is the CEO of the Waimakariri District Council.
Construction teams are working to fix earthquake damaged stopbanks in the Waimakariri and Kaiapoi rivers near Christchurch.
The earthquake in Canterbury is likely to result in rate rises.
The Labour party candidates in two of the closest-run election seats, Christchurch Central, and Waimakariri are refusing to accept defeat.
The Christchurch city and Waimakariri District councils have from today got no insurance cover for future earthquakes after their existing policies expired at 4pm.
The Canterbury Civil Defence Duty Manager, James Thompson, says the Waimakariri River could breach its banks just south of Kaiapoi, and as a preacaution they have evacuated the Riverlands Holiday Park.
Christchurch is still struggling 10 years on from the earthquake with vacant spaces and little development. In the surrounding areas of Christchurch in Selwyn, inland and in the Waimakariri District to the north it's boom times, with the councils unable to keep up with building consents. The regions have continued to grow over the last 10 years after people initially moved there after the earthquake to escape the bumpy roads, red zones and EQC battles. RNZ's Sally Murphy reports.