Cordon opening delayed

Suburban streets in Bexley. Photo / David Alexander

A section of the central city cordon in quake-damaged Christchurch will not open tomorrow as expected, Civil Defence says.

Zone five, between Moorhouse Ave and St Asaph St, was due to open to business owners tomorrow and the general public from Tuesday.

Civil Defence said the opening would be delayed "for at least a few days" while the area was made safe.

"As previously stated, the cordon opening dates have been and will continue to be dependent on the ability to make these areas safe to enter.

"Civil Defence workers are doing all they can to make these areas safe in the quickest time possible, but unforeseen set backs can cause these delays and public safety remains the top priority."

The delay will also push back the opening dates for zones four, six, seven and eight.

Bike retrieval to begin

People with bikes stuck in the CBD will be able to get them back starting tomorrow.

People are advised to go to the Armagh Street entrance of Hagley Park anytime between 7am and 8pm and provide proof of ownership and a description of the bike's location.

Proof of ownership can be a receipt, bike lock key, pin code or description of the bike.

Meanwhile, Christchurch residents will have to cough up a full bus fare from tomorrow.

Fares have been free since limited services got underway in the city at the beginning of the month.

Many routes have changed so passengers are being urged to check the Metroinfo website.

EQC starts full damage assessments

It will take nearly four months to complete full assessments of severely damaged Christchurch homes, the Earthquake Commission (EQC) says.

Assessors had been carrying out rapid assessments of the homes with severe structural damage to allow urgent repairs to take place, EQC spokesman Bryan Dunne said today.

"Those rapid checks, which are still ongoing, are giving us a good picture of the extent and nature of damage to houses."

More than 3000 urgent repairs were being carried out, focusing on making the houses habitable, he said.

These included boarding up windows, removing unstable chimneys, repairing damaged roofs, fixing doors or fixing plumbing systems.

Anyone with winter heating needs was also being given priority and should contact EQC, Mr Dunne said.

EQC was increasing its number of assessors working in Christchurch this week to 650 up from 350, with full assessments now the priority.

It aimed to have these completed by mid-July, he said.

Houses found to need repairs totalling more than $100,000 would be referred to the homeowner's insurance company for follow-up.

Assessors would fully assess houses with minor structural damage from mid-July to mid-September, and houses likely to have no structural damage from mid-September to mid-December.

Meanwhile, the deadline for claims from the Boxing Day aftershock was midnight tomorrow, Mr Dunne said.

He urged anyone with property damaged in that aftershock to lodge a claim.

People had until May 23 to lodge a claim for the February 22 earthquake.

- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB