Hon Nicky Wagner

Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration

Strong support for red zone offer process

Associate Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration Nicky Wagner says it is pleasing to see that a recent CERA survey of former red zone owners shows the Crown’s recovery objectives have largely been met.

A CERA survey of more than 2000 who accepted an offer measured the Crown’s recovery objectives in four areas: certainty for home owners, confidence in moving forward, being provided with the best information to make an informed decision, and simplicity of the process.

Ms Wagner says the main purpose of the survey was to find out if the process had met the Crown’s recovery objectives.

“The survey found that of those who accepted an offer, 79 per cent felt it gave them the certainty to move forward quickly after the earthquakes,” Ms Wagner says.

“In addition, 70 per cent were confident at the time of accepting the Crown offer that it was the best thing to do and 66 per cent remained confident that they made the right decision.

“Over 80 per cent said having an offer was better than no offer at all, and most people felt they had the best possible information at the time to make a decision about the Crown offer.

“68 per cent of owners found the red zoning and Crown offer process clear and 73 per cent felt that they were provided with sufficient time to make their decision.

“These findings are a credit to those involved in the process of zoning and implementing the Crown offer, and are an endorsement of the Government’s decision to provide that level of intervention to support those in the worst affected areas.

“The Crown’s offer was a unique and unprecedented response to a major disaster,” Ms Wagner says.

Despite respondents indicating that they experienced considerable stress at the time of the Crown offers, 74 per cent reported they now had a high quality of life. This figure is very similar to that recorded for the rest of the greater Christchurch population (77 per cent) in the most recent CERA Wellbeing Survey.

“While the decision to land zone had a significant impact on individuals, families and whole communities, the findings of this survey also show that it helped thousands of people move on with their lives,” Ms Wagner says.

You can read the Residential Red Zone Survey Report at www.dpmc.govt.nz/dpmc/publications/rrz-survey

ENDS

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