The Government has announced it will not provide any further taxpayer funding for the Christ Church Cathedral rebuild, with the group leading the project now saying the site is now likely to be mothballed.
Earlier this week, the Christchurch City Council agreed to fulfil a commitment to pay $7 million for the restoration of the earthquake-damaged cathedral, despite no guarantee it would be going ahead.
Today, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the Crown had already provided $25 million and expedited consenting.
“The requested amount of at least $60m more would have been a significant contribution for a project that is not owned by the public, and where public use would be limited due to the Cathedral being a private, religious space,” she said.
“Since the 2011 earthquakes the Government has made substantial investments towards regeneration projects that create public spaces including the Te Pae convention centre, the Otakaro Avon River Corridor Regeneration Plan, and the Te Kaha Multi-Use Stadium.
“We appreciate the progress that Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Limited and the Christchurch Property Trust have made to date in achieving stabilisation of the Cathedral, as well as their efforts to rein in rising costs.
“We understand and regret that this may not be the news they were hoping for.”
Mark Stewart, chair of Christ Church Reinstatement Limited (CCRL), called the decision “incredibly sad and disappointing”.
“With the government’s decision, the pathway to completion is much longer and mothballing is now likely,” said Stewart.
“This is a sad day for Christchurch. With the final anchor projects now being completed alongside significant private and civic investment, Christchurch is enjoying a wonderful renaissance as a modern and vibrant city.
“Completing the reinstatement of the city’s iconic cathedral in the very heart of the city in Cathedral Square would be a very fitting capstone to this.”
Following a meeting of the Christchurch Anglican Diocesan Synod in June, the church said it had agreed to a recommendation by CCRL to remove some elements of the concept design in an attempt to keep the target cost in the range of $209 – $219 million.
That reduced the funding shortfall to $85 million.
At Wednesday’s Christchurch City Council meeting where a vote decided to confirm the $7 million funding package, councillor Sarah Templeton called for a delay on the release of the funding due to the project’s risk of being mothballed.
Following the government’s decision, Stewart said the council will be asked to “pause” its recently confirmed funding until the company has a clearer idea of how – or if – the project can proceed.
“We will meet as a board on August 19 to look at all our options and we will make further announcements on the future of the reinstatement that week.
“This week the Christchurch City Council agreed to fulfil its commitment to release $7 million it had already collected from a targeted rate towards reinstatement. We have asked council to pause this funding until a decision has been made on the pathway to completion.”
