Christchurch’s roadmap for infrastructure rebuild   7 Sep 2012

Hon Gerry Brownlee
Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery

7 September 2012

Christchurch’s roadmap for infrastructure rebuild

The five year schedule for the rebuild of Christchurch’s earthquake-damaged roads and underground services was released today by the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee and Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker.

The plan includes a map setting out indicative timeframes for infrastructure repairs in different areas of the city. The work has been prioritised based on a range of factors, with the aim being to first fix the worst-affected areas that impact on the most people.

“This work is one piece of a much bigger and complex city-wide recovery programme,” says Minister Brownlee. “But it is highly significant as underground services need to be rebuilt and future-proofed so that the city’s recovery is founded on a secure infrastructure base.

“It will take another four years to rebuild Christchurch’s horizontal infrastructure and deciding what comes first is not easy. We’ve used a robust model to prioritise the work and that’s what we’re launching today. Of course, things might change as work progresses, but residents can now have a good idea of when we’ll be working in their neighbourhood.”

Mayor Parker says the works schedule underpins confidence in the city’s recovery and reinvestment in the South Island’s largest city.

“People will begin to see a more resilient and forward-looking city emerging from the legacy of the earthquakes,” he says. “The schedule we are launching today gives certainty for the future; but we have already made good progress on the rebuild and work has been ongoing for more than a year now.

“Already, we’ve completed 187 projects worth $73 million including: rebuilding 39km of wastewater pipe – that’s about the distance from central Christchurch to Dunsandel – and laying 92,000 square metres, or 13 rugby fields, of road pavement.”

SCIRT, the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team, is a partnership that has been formed to deliver the infrastructure rebuild. The New Zealand Government and Christchurch City Council are leading and funding the rebuild, which is being delivered in partnership with five key construction contractors.

Details of projects set to begin construction in the next six months are also available on the SCIRT website and will be updated quarterly.

The schedule of works released today will be reviewed quarterly and updated as SCIRT teams learn more about what is required and respond to information from on-going investigations.

Information can be found online at www.strongerchristchurch.govt.nz about the programme of works and about the hundreds of separate projects to repair or rebuild core services that have already been completed or are underway.

Even if residents live in an area where work is not scheduled to begin for some time, they may still see SCIRT teams carrying out temporary repairs to core services. In some cases, urgent rebuilding is already underway in some places where other work is not scheduled for some years. This is because these projects were instigated before SCIRT took responsibility for the infrastructure rebuild.

Up to 150 SCIRT worksites will be active as the rebuild of infrastructure hits its peak in coming months, with projects sequenced to minimise impacts on traffic.

The community will continue to be informed about the infrastructure rebuild through face-to-face briefings, local information displays, letterbox drops, online information, and advertising. There may also be the opportunity for people to influence decision making when planning is underway for above-ground elements on local streets and parks.

ENDS

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