User:Schwede66/Tools/Christchurch Central Recovery Plan

The Christchurch Central Recovery Plan (Te Mahere Maraka Ōtautahi), also known as the Blueprint, is the plan for the recovery of the central city following the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.

Earthquakes
On Saturday 4 September 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Christchurch and the central Canterbury region at 4:35 am. Located near Darfield, west of the city at a depth of 10 km, it caused widespread damage to the city and minor injuries, but no direct fatalities.

Nearly six months later on Tuesday 22 February 2011, a second earthquake measuring magnitude 6.3 struck the city at 12:51 pm. It was located closer to the city, near Lyttelton at a depth of 5 km. Although lower on the moment magnitude scale than the previous earthquake, the intensity and violence of the ground shaking was measured to be MM IX, among the strongest ever recorded globally in an urban area and in total 185 people were killed with nationals from more than 20 countries among the victims. Widespread damage was caused across Christchurch to buildings and infrastructure already weakened by the 4 September 2010 earthquake and its aftershocks. Significant liquefaction affected the eastern suburbs and parts of the central city, and the total cost to insurers of rebuilding has been estimated at NZ$20–30 billion. Due to an older building stock, and many buildings being multi-storey, the central city was especially hard hit. In the commercial core, some 70% of the buildings have been or will be demolished. As of August 2012, demolitions have not yet finished, and there is still no public access to much of the central city.

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act
Responding to the situation, the government passed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011, which commenced on 19 April 2011. The act gave the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) significant powers and tasked it with the development of a recovery strategy for greater Christchurch (this includes, apart from Christchurch City Council (CCC), Waimakariri and Selwyn Districts). The legislation was described by law firm Buddle Findlay as follows:

"The Act is a radical piece of legislation that will have an unprecedented impact on the landscape of local government throughout greater Christchurch. It includes extraordinary powers to override existing plans, and regulatory requirements and prescribes urgent deadlines for planning and executing Christchurch's recovery."

The act also tasked councils with the development of specific recovery plans, including a recovery plan for the Christchurch Central City that was to be developed by CCC. CCC had to have its central city plan delivered to the Earthquake Recovery Minister, Gerry Brownlee, within nine months. They devised a consultation campaign that they branded 'Share an Idea' and received more than 100,000 pieces of feedback from the Christchurch community. A draft plan was released in August 2011 and attracted a further 3,000 submissions. Christchurch City Councillors adopted the plan on 15 December 2011 and the plan was submitted to the minister on 21 December, meeting the nine months deadline. The plan was in two volumes, with volume 1 outlining the vision, and volume 2 dealing with changes to the city plan.

Brownlee responded to CCC's plan on 18 April 2012. He announced a new unit to be formed within CERA, the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU), that was to be tasked with the development of a blueprint for central Christchurch based on the plan prepared by the city council. Warwick Isaacs, so far in charge of demolitions at CERA, was appointed to head the CCDU. Brownlee accepted most of volume 1 prepared by CCC, but dismissed the transport component of it and he rejected volume 2. The spokesperson for the Labour Party on earthquake recovery, Lianne Dalziel, commented that CCC had effectively been sidelined and that the arrangement was akin to the end of democracy in Christchurch.

Blueprint development
A request for proposal for the blueprint, dated 20 April, was issued by the CCDU and appeared on tender websites on Tuesday, 24 April. Submissions were due on Friday, 4 May. Seventeen complying bids were received by the CCDU, and a shortlist was drawn up on the Saturday. The shortlisted parties were advised on the Sunday.

The winning team, led by Boffa Miskell, was interviewed on the Monday, came to their second interview on the Tuesday, and were told on Wednesday: "You start tomorrow."