Hon Gerry Brownlee
Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery

Embargoed till midday
15 February 2013 Media Statement

Central city officially a rebuild zone

With over half of all staff working inside Christchurch’s city cordon specifically concentrating on repair and construction, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says the area can now be re-named the Rebuild Zone.

Mr Brownlee says using Wednesday this week as an example, the 1098 people working within the cordon represented interior design companies, painters, electricians, scaffolders and builders, as well as demolition companies.

“That gives a clear picture of what is actually happening within that area, which is a very different place to what it was two years ago.

“The inner city cordon has reduced from 387 hectares in February 2011 to just 38 hectares today.

“That area is small enough that it requires just three checkpoints, and by the middle of this year they will also be gone.”

Mr Brownlee says the change in just the past six months is an excellent indicator of the change the city is undergoing.

“One of the hotel sites in the city has at least 40 people working on its repair programme each day.

“That’s a huge percentage of those in the cordoned area working on one repair project alone.”

Mr Brownlee says the Christchurch City Council has granted 325 commercial consents and 77 residential consents within the wider area of the four avenues since the February 2011 earthquake.

“If last year was the year of CBD demolition, this is definitely the year of the rebuild,” Mr Brownlee says.

© Scoop Media