Over 1100 Port Hills properties zoned green

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has today announced the rezoning of 1107 residential properties on the Port Hills from white to green, meaning the houses are safe for residential occupation and their owners can begin discussions with their private insurers and the Earthquake Commission (EQC) about repairs.

Mr Brownlee says comprehensive ground truthing analysis and complementary work by geotechnical engineers has been as site-specific as possible and has mapped areas where risk of rock fall and cliff collapse is most severe.

“We can now say with a high degree of certainty that these 1107 properties can be rezoned as safe for ongoing residential occupation.”

Mr Brownlee says the geotechnical analysis that led to today’s announcement is the most specific of its kind ever done.

“The unique situation we have found ourselves in means the rest of the world can now look to the Christchurch modelling for guidance on what can be done to assess land risks as a result of seismic activity.

“I’m aware this work has taken a long time to complete and I am grateful to the Port Hills residents we’ve been able to rezone today for their patience.”

Parts of the newly green-zoned area will be monitored by the council for any future risk of susceptibility to cliff collapse or landslide.

There will be some cases in the green zone where properties have severe land damage and further individual geotechnical assessment may be required before a decision on repair or rebuilding work can be made.  As with previously zoned areas on the flat land, this will be dealt with by EQC and insurance companies under normal insurance processes.

Those Port Hills residents zoned green today will be invited to a CERA-hosted community meeting in the coming week where representatives of insurance companies and EQC will outline the next steps in the rebuild and repair process for their properties.

Property-specific letters will be delivered to affected property owners today and individual property zoning information will be available on the CERA website.

To check a property’s zone visit www.cera.govt.nz/myproperty