Further 758 Christchurch properties rezoned

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has today announced the rezoning of a further 758 orange zoned properties in greater Christchurch, which means over 90 per cent of the residential orange zone has been rezoned since June.

"While some people have waited a long time, and a few are still waiting, this is progress," Mr Brownlee said.

Of the 758 residential properties, 341 properties have been zoned green, and 417 properties have been zoned red.

Land on the 341 properties zoned green can be repaired individually.

Houses on the green zoned land are in Department of Building and Housing (DBH)’s Technical Category 3. Homes that do not require substantial repairs due to earthquake damage are unaffected by the technical categories.

Those that do require rebuilding or substantial repair will need improved foundations, as outlined in the DBH announcement of technical categories on 28 October 2011.

In Brooklands, 417 properties have been zoned red and the Government will now make offers to purchase those properties covered by insurance.

Mr Brownlee said Brooklands suffered major land damage from the 4 September and subsequent earthquakes, and would have required area-wide land remediation to support rebuilding.

"Geotechnical work has been undertaken to identify cost-and time-effective solutions for repairing Brooklands, but the reality is that all houses would have had to be removed for the land to be fixed, regardless of their damage.

"Brooklands residents would then have to spend a significant amount of time off their land as it was remediated to provide suitable building platforms and the essential infrastructure was completely replaced. This would effectively be the same as creating a new subdivision from scratch.

"While this decision will be distressing for some, as with all red zone decisions, I’m confident we’ve made the right call for the residents of Brooklands," Mr Brownlee said.

Public meetings will be held to ensure residents affected by today’s announcement are given the information they need, and CERA will ensure there is a face-to-face, individual contact with all red zone homeowners.

Today’s announcement leaves 908 residential properties on the plains in the orange zone. Rezoning the properties remains CERA's highest priority along with 3700 residential properties in the Port Hills.

"As we progress with geotechnical investigations into the region’s hardest hit areas, the decisions become more and more difficult to make," Mr Brownlee said.

"We want to make sure we make the best decision for the owners of the properties that remain orange or white and I thank them for their patience as we go about this important work."

Today’s announcement brings the number of red zoned residential properties in Canterbury to 6540 and green zoned properties to more than 180,000.

Residents can confirm their re-zoning by visiting www.landcheck.org.nz or phoning 0800 RING CERA (0800 7464 2372).

CERA is responsible for rebuilding greater Christchurch and its surrounds, and supporting the welfare of its residents. For more information on today’s announcement, including maps, visit www.cera.govt.nz