10,000 Port Hills homes get ok to rebuild

Nearly 10,000 homes in the Christchurch suburb of Port Hills got the green light from the government to repair or rebuild. Photo / Greg Bowker

Nearly 10,000 homes in the Christchurch suburb of Port Hills have the green light to repair or rebuild, Canterbury Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee announced today.

The about 9700 residential properties were initially zoned white, meaning they needed further investigation. However, that had changed to green, which meant damage sustained in the thousands of quakes in the past year could be repaired or the homes rebuilt.

About 3700 Port Hills properties were still zoned white.

"The issues in the Port Hills are different to those in the low-lying plains areas, where there has generally been widespread land damage from liquefaction and lateral spreading," Mr Brownlee said.

"In the Port Hills, the issues have largely involved potential rock fall, cliff collapse, land slips and risks of that nature."

Extensive geotechnical assessments had been carried out before the decision was made to rezone.

"There will be some cases in these newly classified green zone areas where properties have land damage which may require further geotechnical assessment before building or rebuilding can occur. This will be dealt with by EQC (the Earthquake Commission) and insurance companies under normal insurance processes."

Mr Brownlee said he understood it was frustrating for those still awaiting a decision of the future of their come but that everything possible was being done to give people certainty.