Christchurch demolition approvals pace slows

The pace of building demolition approvals in the Christchurch CBD has slowed, and the cordon around the centre of the city has shrunk. Photo / Sarah Ivey

The pace of building demolition approvals in the Christchurch CBD has slowed since the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) took over from the Civil Defence a month ago.

The list of buildings requiring demolition, partial-demolition or requiring to be made safe was updated yesterday, with 482 buildings now on the list.

However Cera has only added 83 buildings to the list since taking over from the Civil Defence a month ago.

Warwick Isaacs, the Cera interim deconstruction manager, told The Press the pace had slowed.

Mr Isaacs, who also manager the deconstruction process for the Civil Defence, said this was because in the weeks after the February 22 earthquake urban search and rescue had less restraints in demolishing buildings as they worked to save lives and recover bodies.

Legally, Cera is required to consult with owners and obtain an engineer's assessment in order to approve a building's demolition.

Mr Isaacs said the demolition approval rate would increase to around 80 buildings a week.

About 1200 are expected to be levelled, with 150 already having been demolished.

Meanwhile the cordon around the central city will shrink again tomorrow, with one more block opening to the public.

In the north-west of Zone 6, Colombo St will open down to Kilmore St, and from Kilmore St west to Durham. There will be one-way access to these streets from 5pm.

A small triangle section in the south-east of the red zone will also become accessible, with Tuam St open to High St, and High St to St Asaph St.

A map of the cordon changes can be found here.

Buildings requiring demolition, partial-demolition or to be made safe can be found here.

- Herald Online