Flat land residential zoning now complete

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has today announced the final decision in almost 11 months of flat land residential zoning in Canterbury.

“Today’s news delivers certainty to the owners of 401 properties in Southshore West, following a long and frustrating wait,” Mr Brownlee said.

“It brings the number of residential properties zoned red because they are unsuitable for residential occupation to 7256.”

The first of eight zoning decisions (including today’s) affecting over 150,000 houses on flat land in greater Christchurch was made on 23 June 2011.

“We always said the final zoning decisions would be the most difficult, because the nature of the damage and options for remediation were less clear cut than in the areas zoned earlier, but Southshore West has proved particularly challenging.

“Southshore West suffered major lateral spreading along the edge of the estuary in last February’s quake, in some places over a metre.

“For that reason, and because treatment to prevent future lateral spreading would be invasive for people already living in damaged homes and take a number of years, 198 of the 401 properties in Southshore West closest to the estuary have been zoned red.

“The owners of these properties are now eligible to receive a Government offer of purchase,” Mr Brownlee said.

A recently announced change to the offer period means the owners of today’s red zoned properties will have 12 months from the date on the offer letter to select an option and return the sale and purchase agreement to the Crown.

The remaining 203 properties in Southshore West have been zoned green, in Department of Building and Housing (DBH) Technical Category 3. Owners of these properties can now begin the process of making necessary repairs or rebuilding on their land.

The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) will now hold community meetings to help all affected residents understand what the announcement means and their options.

“Earthquake Support Coordinators and the Red Cross will be visiting all rezoned properties in the Southshore West area today, and will leave further information at those properties where no one is home when they visit,” Mr Brownlee said.