Christchurch Rebuild Policy

The third year after the major Canterbury earthquakes and significant aftershocks still sees members of the community repairing and reconstructing their city, homes and lives, and continuing their psychological recovery.

For Christchurch to move on, its people must have something to look forward to, rather than constant reminders of the disaster - like battles with the Earthquake Commission (EQC), living in wrecked houses waiting for decisions, or dealing with shoddy repairs.

The Internet Party believes that Cantabrians must have the opportunity to have their voices heard in the rebuilding of Christchurch and that their democratic rights must be restored.

There must also be clear and open communication to those still suffering the effects of the earthquakes, including online support and tracking channels, as well as an insistence of high quality repairs to home and long-term accountability, enhanced social services and health support, affordable housing, online transparency, and a strategy to rebuild Christchurch as a sustainable and technologically advanced city.

The Internet Party will:

• Demand an immediate inquiry into the shoddy repairs crisis that has become apparent in the last year, with a view to establishing long-term accountability for work done on the rebuild. This includes re-examining the deregulation of building standards by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
• Review insurance practices to see among other things whether there is a need for legislative regulation to enforce insurance company’s accountability, whether the current “good faith” model needs updating to one that identifies unacceptable practices, and investigate the benefits of an independent support service for insurance claimants.

• Explore options for affordable housing - both renting and owning - that meets high and sustainable standards and satisfies the urgent demands of those affected by the disaster.

• Advocate strongly for transparency and accountability from all institutions and organisations responsible for fixing the city. That includes implementing clear and open communication channels between said organisations and those still awaiting decisions and insisting that all public institutions publish their expenditure quarterly so that Cantabrians can keep track of spending and ensure transparency.

• Insist that, wherever possible, transparency measures and communication channels are also available online in an easily accessible format.

• Strengthen democratic governance in Christchurch by reinstating a democratically elected Environment Canterbury council.

• Ensure the wellbeing of Canterbury people is given top priority by instigating a review of health, transport, housing, counselling, social welfare, education, employment and legal services to ensure they are providing proper levels of services and support. There would be an immediate review of the Land Use Recovery Programme.

• Support the continued development of Christchurch’s tech sector, including the establishment and development of tech hubs such as EPIC.

• Direct a part of the already committed central government funding of recreating Christchurch to make it a world leading smart city. This will be done in collaboration with local government bodies and the people of Christchurch.

Further Details

1. Hundreds of cases of shoddy repairs are now emerging in Christchurch, say recent media reports. Commentators say the problem could be worse than the country’s leaky homes crisis. One homeowner who complained about poor work to EQC and the repair company received no response. The Christchurch homes rebuild is being done on the cheap and with the use of lowered building standards, according to blogger Sarah Miles. “Just like the leaky building fiasco the government-funded agencies, Housing New Zealand, the Ministry of [Business], Innovation and Employment’s Engineering Advisory Group (MBIE) and the Building Research Association of NZ (BRANZ), are responsible for the approved and endorsed new low-cost methods of repairs in the form of MBIE Guidelines. These are certainly likely to have a devastating impact on the quality of repairs to damaged homes in Christchurch.”

2. Dozens of Canterbury home-owners have been pushed to accept a cash settlement when they would rather have had their house repaired, according to the Canterbury Communities’ Earthquake Recovery Network (CanCern). Some had reported intimidating practices, while others had received cheques from EQC or sums of money in their bank accounts even though they had not opted out of the programme.

3. A 2013 survey of claimants handled by EQC showed only 42% were satisfied with the time it took to settle their claim. “Settlement times continue to move away from what claimants expect. In this quarter, 63% of claimants expected settlement within three months, with only 35% being settled within that timeframe.”

4. The US has a legal tort based on “bad faith” principles that claimants may invoke in challenging the actions of their insurance company. Current NZ legislation relies on “good faith” but does not have a definition. The bad faith model explicitly sets out what is unacceptable, such as deliberately delaying procedures by taking advantage of lengthy court systems unnecessarily or by employing multiple experts unnecessarily.

5. There are multiple secondary stressors resulting from the original disaster and these need to be focused on as separate or unique items of on-going concern. Secondary stressors typically persist for longer periods of time and inhibit people’s ability to re-establish routines. More than 50 per cent of Cantabrians believe their quality of life had deteriorated since the quakes, according to CERA’s 2012 wellbeing survey. Almost 100 per cent of respondents had experienced stress that had a negative effect on their lives.

6. After two years of uncertainty, Christchurch is rife with anxiety and despair with one in eight Cantabrians (more than 66,000) taking anti-depressant pills, mental health referrals at an all-time high, and severe psychological disorders starting to emerge, according to Pegasus Health figures. Almost 12,000 people were treated at Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) mental health facilities from October to December 2012.

7. International research shows anti-social behaviour and suicide attempts often peak in the third year of recovery after a disaster, a phenomenon that has left Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean with “a degree of nervousness and worry” for the coming year. Increased alcohol consumption and significantly higher levels of depression, acute stress and anxiety have been linked to residents living in worst affected areas of the quake-hit Christchurch.

8. Christchurch residents who have filed human rights claims against a number of insurance and construction companies are being supported by a law clinic project involving volunteer law student interns, launched by the Wider Earthquake Community Action Network (WeCAN), supported by the University of Canterbury School of Law Clinical Studies Programme. The claims have been filed under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, which sets out responsibilities of companies to avoid causing or contributing to human rights violations.

9. The democratic rights of Cantabrians have been affected. In March 2010, the Government disbanded the Environment Canterbury council and replaced it with commissioners appointed by, and responsible to, the Government. In its submission to the Environment Canterbury (Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Bill (2012) which extended the original Act (2010), the Human Rights Commission stated that the extension was “undemocratic and runs contrary to New Zealand’s human rights obligations under a number of international treaties”.

10. The Land Use Recovery Plan (LURP) was approved by the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery and was gazetted in December 2013. It is a statutory document, and directs the Christchurch City Council, Waimakariri and Selwyn District Councils and Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) to make changes to district plans, the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement and other instruments.

11. Christchurch has a growing IT sector which has been boosted by the establishment of Enterprise Precinct and Innovation Campus (EPIC), a tech hub located in the heart of Christchurch CBD which houses 20 companies and 300 staff. The land for its building is provided rent-free by the Council, while EPIC receives significant support from Bank of New Zealand, as well as $1.8m funding from the Government over three years. The next stage of development is a multi-building campus that will be completed over five years.

12. The recreation of Christchurch presents an opportunity to build a globally leading smart city. Christchurch people are keen to build a city that is ready for the future, with transport infrastructure improvements like those in Melbourne that provide for buses, trains, trams and cycle-ways. Charge stations and wifi on buses, trams and trains would make these more appealing as a transport choice, while electric buses and trams would improve air quality.

13. The Christchurch-based social enterprise Sensing City argues the $30bn being spent in Christchurch in a short time presents an extraordinary opportunity for Christchurch to lead as a technologically advanced city, through measures such as ensuring free availability of information and installing sensors around the city to gather real-time data, covering areas such as traffic flows and pollution. Other ideas mooted included tri-generation technology (which combines electricity generation, heating and cooling), a thermal network (hot water reticulation), water recycling for air-conditioning towers, micro wind generation, solar panels for power generation and efficient LED street lights: “We can become a connected society with ubiquitous, high-speed, reliable wireless data connections throughout the central business district.”