Visitors will be greeted by a 10m steel City Mission Christmas tree which has been placed inside the cathedral for the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' event.

Bookings will be taken from December 3 to 18 for groups of up to 50 visitors at a time on weekdays. Each person will need to give a $25 koha donation which will go to the Christchurch City Mission. Read more

The landmark cathedral in Christchurch's city centre was badly damaged in the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.

The cost of restoring the church has blown out to almost $250 million, as deconstruction uncovered just what was required, leaving a funding gap of $114 million.

In April, Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd (CCRL) warned it needed at least $30 million urgently or the building would be mothballed by August. Read more

Tour parties are being invited to explore the historic Christchurch building. Once there, those on the tours (restricted to 25 people) learn about the cathedral's architecture and the ongoing work to rebuild it.

Project manager Keith Paterson says the free tours were fully booked within an hour of being advertised.

"The purpose of these tours is to let as many people as we can sensibly handle get inside and have a look and just understand it a little bit better. And then hopefully they'll go and tell two people, and they'll tell two people and so on."

Paterson estimates the work to reinstate the cathedral is about a third of the way through, while the strengthening process is about halfway through.

"What they'll see is quite a lot of scaffolding. But I'll also be pointing out to them the way the strengthening is being done, some of the stonework that's been taken down and basically how the walls are constructed, that sort of thing."

Ballooning costs

The team behind the "Reinstate the Cathedral" project say the cost of the rebuild has risen by tens of millions.

"A few surprises have led to us reassessing the overall position of the project. But it doesn't stop the fact that it's still the heart of the city and that there's a lot of love for this project around the community."

A recent project review revealed the price tag to rebuild the landmark cathedral has grown enormously. Where it was originally projected in 2017 to cost $104m dollars, estimates now say it will cost $248m.

$30m of the reinstatement project's shortfall needs to be found by August. If it isn't, the project will probably have to be mothballed indefinitely, Paterson says.

Join a tour

A limited series of free one-hour public tours of the cathedral will run each Monday through to the end of May.

Interested members of the public can visit christchurchcathedral.org.nz for bookings and more information.

Source

• Otago Daily Times

In a report for Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd (CCRL), economists from the NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) say despite escalating costs, it's worth finishing the $240 million project.

The Government should help close the funding gap, their report says.

After analysing the pros and cons, the economists say "the benefits of reinstatement outweigh the costs, indicating that the project should proceed".

Urgent and ongoing funding

Deconstruction over the past year has uncovered the size of the problem CCRL is facing.

"We are dealing with a 150-year-old earthquake-damaged building. There are insufficient as-built plans from the 1880s and planning has included many assumptions which are now just being revealed to us" says CCRL chairperson Mark Stewart.

The estimated price tag escalated from $100 million in 2016 to $160 million last year.

CCRL needs at least $30 million and a "new funding pathway" by August. It says otherwise the project will be mothballed, leaving the cathedral as is.

Cost-benefits

The economists' report calculates the net benefit of a restored cathedral at between $1 million and $30 million.

This is largely due to Christ Church Cathedral's intangible "social, cultural and economic value for all New Zealanders".

The NZIER economists calculated it is likely to gather around $20 million a year from tourism. That makes for a cost-benefit ratio of 1.1 to a strong 3.0.

The Cathedral is a "public good". This puts the onus on the Government to "play a role in closing the funding gap" the economists wrote.

The gap is reportedly at least $114 million. It could be more, since to keep it this low requires $42 million from other sources. That additional money includes extra funding from the Anglican Church.

"As many of the benefits are associated with public goods or positive externalities, there is a case for central and local government to contribute toward the costs of reinstatement alongside the Anglican Church, tourism operators and philanthropists" the report says.

Public sentiment is divided. Some say "stop now". Others say "it must be finished".

Investment opportunity

The report aimed to help the Government, City Council and potential funders to decide whether to invest more.

While the cathedral's market value from direct use - eg tourism - was tiny, its reinstatement is needed to unlock the full value of investments in surrounding streets.

The economists estimated that value at a billion so far and another billion by 2034.

The economists say they did not analyse keeping the cathedral as a partially restored ruin. Nor did they quantify the disadvantages either from a public eye-sore point-of-view or from public safety issues.

The greatest benefits arose from the cathedral's non-use value of $9-$30 million. That "mainly consists of the value people gain from knowing the Cathedral has been reinstated, even if they do not visit it" the report says.

This is based on international stated cultural site preference surveys, keyed to Category 1 historic place.

Boost for residents

The 2011 earthquake destroyed many Christchurch heritage sites. This makes the remaining few "especially important to Christchurch residents" the report says.

Restoring it will also "strengthen social cohesion and contribute to New Zealand's earthquake engineering capability".

Source

• 1News

At least three dioceses outside of Christchurch face significant, multi-million-dollar challenges getting their cathedrals made quake safe.

However, I do accept that the question in 2024 is what exactly is the ability of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch to contribute more funds to the project to reinstate its own cathedral?

This is particularly important as we review the costs of the reinstatement and when questions are being asked about where funding is coming from.

In 2017 the local governing body, the Christchurch Anglican Synod, made the decision to reinstate Christ Church Cathedral on the basis which the government and council proposed.

This was, for their part, the Anglicans contribute our cathedral insurance funds of $44 million. Synod welcomed this assurance because our parishes each had their own building challenges given the extensive damage to many following the Canterbury earthquakes.

In 2024, some recent media reports and commentaries have raised the question of the ability of "the Anglican church" to contribute more to the Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Project.

This has included some eye-wateringly large sums of money mentioned as Anglican assets without actual analysis of availability.

If only.

For example, Liz McDonald's (The Press), begins with a reference to "$3 billion dollars" held by the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

Stating such a large sum without explanation overlooks the fact that the Anglican Church of Aotearoa is a large, extensive and dispersed organisation, with properties and funds spread across parishes and dioceses from Cape Reinga to Stewart Island.

Unlike some other faith-based organisations, finances are not centralised.

Each local parish and diocese have the decisive say in whether or not property is sold and in how its funds may be used.

There are also clear and specific terms of trusts constraining parish or diocesan council decision-making.

There are also a number of funds to benefit the wider community which are well-used for purposes other than church buildings.

The largest of these is the St. John's College Trust which is tightly scripted by an Act of Parliament for education.

Many other Anglican trusts throughout the country are also established under Acts of Parliament that legislate both purpose and benefit.

However, for local Anglicans, our challenge in 2024 is to find ways to assist the reinstatement project, as it is no longer 2017.

This includes finding any funds surplus to rising expenses and current requirements.

To this, we've already transferred $3.8m from the sale of St. Luke's land on Kilmore Street to the project.

Instead of a rebuilt structure on that site, we've employed a popular vicar-at-large delivering pastoral care in Doc Martin boots among the streets and in the many cafes and meeting places of the city.

The Transitional or ‘Cardboard' Cathedral has also served well as both a place of worship and important community space. We'll soon decide the future of this site with the return to the Square.

It is possible proceeds from its sale could also assist funding of the reinstatement.

Other Anglican church properties have been or are in process of being sold.

Whether these proceeds are surplus to local requirements and unconstrained by trust deeds, is a matter of investigation and dialogue that I'll lead as Bishop throughout the year.

In the meantime, we have begun an appeal to individual Anglican parishioners to give, above and beyond their giving to their parishes.

Through this campaign we look forward to raising $2.5m in contributions.

Although we are talking about restoration of a much-loved building and place of worship, people remain the centre of our faith and our fundraising will never affect those core social, community and other essential services we provide.

This is also important as the Cathedral itself means more to the people of Christchurch than just to the Anglicans.

It is also an important part of our regional identity, is part of our city council logo and both welcomes all faiths and those of none.

As a proud Cantabrian, I spent many hours among and being educated under, the eaves of some of the most beautiful gothic revival architecture ever built. The Christ Church Cathedral was the pinnacle and the only stone-built gothic revival Cathedral in the country - also rare internationally.

Along with my faith, this privilege was perhaps an unsurprising factor in my vocation to become an Anglican vicar.

But it is to serve the wider Christchurch community, new and established local people, increasingly diverse, brave, and resilient that gather under many of our rebuilt structures today, where true privilege lies.

I've been humbled by the financial support we've already received from parishioners, and it has been heartening to see how much has been given by people of other regions, denominations and across all faiths - understanding the universal need for places of sanctuary as well as also real places of grounding and peace for a community such as ours that has endured so much over the last decade.

• Peter Carrell is Anglican Bishop of Christchurch. He is photographed here with wife, Teresa Kundycki-Carrell.
• First published in The Press. Republished with the writer's permission.

He's hoping parishioners will be able to help with the Anglican Campaign. The project is due to be completed in 2027.

Budget shortfall

The $160m project's $50m budget shortfall is being met from various sources says the Anglican Bishop of Christchurch Peter Carrell (pictured).

Big sums are coming from the public purse. They include $25m in government funding and $10m from the City Council.

In addition, all the diocese's $44m insurance money has been committed to the project.

Fundraising to date has brought in about $24m. Unfortunately, that's not enough.

"We are now appealing to the Anglican community in Canterbury and Westland to contribute" Carrell says.

Five-year plan

The diocese launched its five-year fundraising "Anglican Campaign" at the Transitional Cathedral in Christchurch last Tuesday.

In a "twin" launch, it also set the campaign in motion at St Mary's Church in Timaru on Wednesday.

The diocese's campaign slogan makes its need for parish support clear: "With all of our hands the roof of our cathedral will rise again" it says.

The campaign is asking Anglicans to donate a portion of their income for up to a five-year period, if possible.

Asset debate - pros and cons

The plea for Anglican parishioners to help fund the Christ Church Cathedral restoration project comes amid ongoing debate about how the church should use its own assets.

The church's nationwide assets in 2020 included tax-free property, cash, investments and trusts.

Given that the value of these assets was estimated at close to $3 billion in 2020, the church has been under pressure to use its wealth.

"We've had feedback which suggests that, of course, first and foremost Anglicans need to give lead in this" says Carrell.

"We've certainly given a lead by putting our insurance funds in, and now we're wanting to give another lead by having individual Anglicans contribute."

The report relied on self-reported figures and noted some assets might be unaccounted for.

In addition, some of the figures will have risen with real estate prices since 2020.

"It has proved difficult in practice to get a reliable picture of the total assets of the Anglican Church" the report says.

Charity finance expert, Dr Michael Gousmet, doesn't think asking Anglican parishioners for money to restore Christ Church Cathedral is appropriate.

"The poor Anglican parishioners, they are being asked to fork out now. A lot of them are not young people, they are on the pension and they're being asked for money."

The Anglican Church easily had enough property and money to fund the cathedral restoration if it wanted to, he says.

He has calculated the church's nationwide assets include $411m of cash and bank investments, $86m of investment property, $892m of property and equipment in church use, and $55m in endowment and special purpose funds.

Source

• The Press
• Stuff
• Anglican Life
• Otago Daily Times

Since then, details on the $160 million restoration have been sparse.

Keith Paterson of Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd (CCRL) has indicated an impending update is due.

Despite the ambitious scope of the project, CCRL chairperson Mark Stewart remains optimistic, confirming the project is on track for a 2027 completion.

However, an additional $50 million in funding is required.

Stewart is confident in the community's support, stating fundraising efforts will continue until the restoration's conclusion.

Source: The Press

The board responsible for the cathedral's ongoing repairs says that they have not received any funds from Ogston.

They also mentioned that they have a policy to ensure that the values of donors are in line with those of the Anglican Church.

According to The Times, the British businessman is one of Britain's wealthiest individuals.

However, he has recently become embroiled in the alleged human trafficking of Thai and Filipina sex workers who were allegedly used for his sexual parties,

Based on approximately 1,000 leaked documents and Ogston's handwritten notes, The Times report alleges that he used his wealth to conceal his activities for over a decade.

Ogston has denied these allegations through his legal representative, stating,

"This paints a picture of my personal life that I simply do not recognise.

"I do not exploit women.

"I am very sad that the publication of these allegations is going to cause immeasurable harm to the charities which I have been able to support over the years."

The Metropolitan Police in London are reportedly reviewing the information disclosed by The Sunday Times.

In 2011, Ogston committed $4 million to the restoration of Christ Church Cathedral.

He visited New Zealand in 2014 to reaffirm his pledge and controversially suggested that an independent foundation should oversee the cathedral's reconstruction, albeit with the Anglican Church's cooperation.

However, in 2014, a spokesman for the Bishop of Christchurch, the Rt Revd Victoria Matthews, said that they had been given no advance information about the announcement, nor had they been invited to the event.

Until recently, the foundation was reportedly still listed among the pledges on the restoration project's website.

However, The Press reports that in a recent development, Michael Norris, a resident of Akaroa and former business associate of the embattled Hamish Ogston, has expressed his astonishment over the "serious allegations" against Ogston.

Norris, who also serves as a trustee for the Great Christchurch Buildings Trust, cautioned the public against making premature judgements.

Who is Hamish Ogston

Ogston, a prominent philanthropist in the UK, is a regular on the Sunday Times Rich List.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Ogston expressed his long-standing concerns about societal inequalities, stating, "I have always been concerned about inequalities and unfairness and lack of opportunities. I don't know why."

His Foundation is known for supporting health, heritage, and music initiatives in the UK and abroad.

In recognition of his contributions to business and community service in York, where his company was based, he was honoured with a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) at Buckingham Palace in 2011.

Reportedly residing in a lavish mansion in Kensington, Ogston's property is adjacent to the townhouse where Winston Churchill once lived and passed away.

Ogston's art collection is said to boast works by renowned artists such as Picasso, Chagall, and Magritte.

Sources

• Stuff
• The Times
• Church Times
• Wikipedia
• The article was updated on Sunday.

Questions about the cathedral's fate arose over the weekend when the parish it belongs to agreed to dissolve.

Christchurch's Anglican Bishop Peter Carrell says this agreement enables options for the parish's property to be considered. The property includes the Cardboard Cathedral and the land it stands on.

Whatever happens, the Anglican community will continue to use the Cardboard Cathedral (formally called the Transitional Cathedral} until 2027, the bishop says. That's when the earthquake-damaged Christ Church Cathedral is set to reopen for worship.

He clarified that it won't be possible for both cathedrals to function at the same time.

The Transitional Cathedral opened opposite Latimer Square in 2013 as a temporary place of worship. The unique, award-winning building soon became popular with locals and tourists alike.

Carrell said he understands many Cantabrians have become attached to the building. He knows they don't want it sold or demolished. Their feelings would be factored into the final decision, he said.

Sadness and loss

Many Cantabrians are alarmed and concerned about the Cardboard Cathedral's future.

They don't want it sold or put to secular use - such as a pub.

But the structure is on prime piece of real estate which is "screaming out" for redevelopment, says Christchurch real estate agent Mark O'Loughlin. He knows the site well.

"That site there is 4,000 square metres of land ... [it]... could sell for between $1500 to possibly $1800 a square metre," he told 1News.

Such comments have seen those concerned for the cathedral's future speak out.

The Reverend Craig Dixon is one who has made his views clear. He led the Cardboard Cathedral project after the 2011 earthquake.

"It seems to be a quick way to grab some cash to throw at the cathedral at the square," he says.

"I think that's an unfortunate response.

"It's a publicly significant building for Christchurch and for New Zealand and was the first public building to be constructed post-earthquakes.

"There are people in Christchurch very attached to the transitional cathedral and some of them were present in our synod and spoke up in favour of it being retained as a building.

"It is an amazing building and so our consideration of future possible uses will look into how it might still remain as a building, it won't be our cathedral."

Options open

Carrell says the diocese is not committed to selling the Cardboard Cathedral site, but is exploring various options.

"The Synod was very clear that for some Cantabrians, there is a strong attachment ... it is an award winning, iconic building...

"How the building might be retained and who might take responsibility for its future maintenance and insurance costs is something we will be looking into," he says.

A working group will explore potential futures for the land and buildings on the corner of Madras and Hereford Streets, and report to the Anglican synod in 2024.

Source

• RNZ
• 1News
• ChrisLynchMedia

Truman is set to leave his current role as the Vicar of Opawa-St Martins (St Mark's, Opawa) to take up the job.

Bishop Peter Carrell said Truman's appointment ushers in a "new era of leadership, fresh perspectives, and a commitment to fostering a strong sense of family and community within the heart of Christchurch".

The dean is responsible for the worship and ministry at the cathedral and leadership of its mission to the city of Christchurch, which is currently undertaken at the Transitional Cathedral. Read more

Project director Keith Paterson said the top-down approach meant the cathedral's stone gable arches could be dismantled, dividing it into four independently supported sections.

"This piece of open heart surgery will do the final decoupling so that the structures that we've put around the perimeter have enough design strength to hold the components separately," he said.

Ornate, carved stone will be lifted out by crane and the rest dropped to the ground. Read more

Spot can be seen moving amidst the rubble, the lasers and cameras worth $190,000 strapped to its back storing crucial data, such as dimensions and damage, for the project team.

"The contrast of our heritage cathedral and this artificial intelligence mammal walking through there, it's quite uncanny," project director Keith Paterson told Seven Sharp. Read more

Doing so would avoid restoration work stopping in October if more funds cannot be found before then.

This is because when the Anglican Synod approved the cathedral's restoration in 2017, its terms stipulated that each stage could only go ahead if the full funding for that stage was already in place.

The total cost forecast at about $154m.

At present, $103 million is currently in place for the project, with the first stage - involving stabilising the cathedral with large steel frames - underway.

This stage will cost $11.8m.

The next stage, which involves strengthening and reinstating the main cathedral building, will cost about $115.6m, which exceeds the currently available funding.

Christchurch diocese bishop Peter Carrell says revised approval terms may be presented to the Synod in September.

He says he hasn't drawn up any revisions or discussed the matter with Synod so far.

If there is still insufficient money for the main stage by September, Carrell says the question to put to the Synod would be: "Do we have flexibility to continue with the money we have?"

"We are talking about the possibility where we break large phases down into smaller phases. We now have a better sense of the sequencing than we did in 2017."

Carrell is confident construction could continue beyond October because of the $100m already raised. The project is due for completion in mid-2027.

"We have plenty of money to keep going for a number of years," he says.

"It would be silly to say ‘stop' simply because we are a few million short."

"Over the lifetime of the project we will raise all the funds we need to raise. It is quite a long time."

Last year, restoration leaders said $26m would need to be raised by this October for work to continue.

Carrell says there is a will to continue with the project, "but we want to honour the 2017 resolution and the joint venture agreement that flowed out of that."

Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Trust chairman Peter Guthrey says the Trust is working on finding donors in New Zealand and overseas to cover the $51m shortfall on the project.

"At the moment we don't have any significant new pledges beyond Philip Burdon's donation of $5m," he says.

Burdon says it's important to avoid a pause in restoration work as it increases costs and people like stonemasons leave the project.

"That is something that all parties are trying to avoid," he says.

Besides the stabilisation and reinstatement costs, $11.2m will be spent on a new tower and $15.7m on two new buildings.

The trust already has over $100m for the project in grants and pledges. These include $53m from insurance, $6m in lotteries funding, $25m from the government, $10m from Christchurch City Council and at least $9.1m in personal donations.

Source

• Stuff
• Image: Stuff

Up to two tonnes of pigeon poo has accumulated since the devastating February 2011 earthquake.

Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement project director Keith Paterson said the pigeons were "a bit of liability" and certainly not their "best friends". Read more

There's more than one battle in this long saga and only one of the cathedrals will have a happy ending.

Both buildings were severely damaged by the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes and aftershocks, and both sit derelict.

The future of the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes St looked safe after the Bishop Barry Jones supported restoration.

Meanwhile, the iconic ChristChurch Anglican Cathedral in the city centre looked doomed after its Bishop Victoria Matthews opted to demolish and rebuild.

But several years after the disastrous events of 2011, their fates have switched.

The Gothic-designed ChristChurch cathedral will be rebuilt and its classical Catholic counterpart will be deconstructed and a new one built closer to the city centre.

The head of Historic Places Aotearoa, Dr Anna Crighton, is among the many people and groups that have fought hard to save the Anglican Cathedral in Cathedral Square.

"ChristChurch Cathedral is not only the centrepiece of Cathedral Square and our city, but it is our icon," she says. "It's in our living room here.

"It's the reason why the Anglican community was built here. So for seven years the Christchurch public have been fighting against the misinformation that it was beyond repair, that it was dangerous, they can't afford to repair it …. [that it was] an exciting opportunity to build a new cathedral and it would take too long to restore anyway."

After a bitter seven-year battle that involved the Church, the council, the government, community groups and residents, the Anglican Synod decided that the cathedral would be restored at a cost of $104 million.

It will be partly funded by the Church's insurance with grants from Christchurch City Council and the government.

Work has finally begun and it will take at least a decade to rebuild. For now, there's still a gaping hole where the pigeons get in, and the cathedral is out of bounds, surrounded by security fencing.

Just a few blocks away on Barbadoes Street is the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Its future looked safe until a few months ago when the new Bishop, Paul Martin announced it will be deconstructed and a new one built.

It is a Petre architecturally designed building, which was known as one of the most beautifully designed cathedrals in the Southern Hemisphere. Continue reading

Charles, who spent the day meeting and greeting locals with his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has made a "substantial" donation to the damaged Christ Church Cathedral.

He drew a laugh, saying: "Hopefully I'll be alive when it's completed."

Bishop Peter Carrell said they were "thrilled" at the "substantial donation" and the royal patronage would boost the multimillion-dollar project. Continue reading

On Tuesday, the Venerable Doctor Peter Carrell was announced as the new Bishop-Elect of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch. Carrell, a Cantabrian, is well-known and respected throughout New Zealand for his teaching and preaching.

He is presently the Diocesan Director of Education and Director of Theology House - as well as Archdeacon of Pegasus (Christchurch East). He is a board member at Christ's College.

He has been an Anglican priest since 1987.

The new bishop was nominated by the Canterbury synod in mid-August. The General Synod, which is the national Anglican ruling body, and the House of Bishops then voted on the nomination.

Peter, who is married to Teresa Kundycki-Carrell, has deep roots in Christchurch, and in the Anglican expression of the Christian faith.

Peter, the son of Bishop Brian Carrell and his wife May, grew up in an evangelical Anglican home.

He began serving his curacy in the Parish of Shirley in 1987. He then embarked on postgrad theological studies at the University of Durham, from where he was awarded his doctorate in 1993.

He returned to the Diocese of Nelson where he served as assistant priest in Stoke, Vicar of Blenheim South (from 1995 to 2001) and Ministry Educator from 2001 to 2010.

Peter, Teresa and their family returned to Christchurch just in time for the September 2010 earthquakes.

The bishop-elect said he supported the restoration of the cathedral because it was a "particularly iconic building in the life of Christchurch, Canterbury and New Zealand."

"I felt that the principal monetary objection was dealt with by the government's offer and we should accept it."

"As the owners of that iconic building, there would be a lot of benefits to reinstating the icon. I look forward to us being able to resume worshipping God in this great cathedral in the heart of our city, but also the cathedral will be a drawcard for visitors to the centre of our city."

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• anglicantaonga.org.nz
• www.scoop.co.nz
• Image: anglicantaonga.org.nz

The Church Properties Trust administers the cathedral. It and the government have now agreed on a funding plan for the rebuild.

It will be a joint venture.

Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods says they've agreed in principle on how to pay for the rebuild. Work will start before the end of July.

The first tasks to rebuild are site clearance and decontamination.

The February 2011 earthquake destroyed the cathedral.

The rebuild will cost around $104 million.

The partners have appointed a Christchurch investment banker to oversee the project.

Justin Murray will chair a company set up for the work.

Christchurch Cathedral Reinstatement Limited will soon appoint directors. Then it will prepare concept designs and budgets.

Regeneration minister Megan Woods says the goal is to return Christ Church Cathedral to the people of Canterbury.

Since 2011, the Anglican Church and heritage groups have argued over Christ Church Cathedral's future.

The Anglican Synod ended the argument last September when it voted to restore rather than demolish the building.

Funding sources

Government and council grants and loans will pay for the work. There is also the church's $42m insurance proceeds.

Mr Murray says there is much to do before work on the main building begins.

"I don't think there will be stonemasons on site for many months, because that preparation work needs to be done first," he says.

The plan still needs a final signing off, probably in a few weeks.

But it will be about 7 years before builders finish the job.

Source:

• Radio NZ
• Newshub
• TVNZ

Image: Radio NZ

However, they have expressed regret at what they call the conduct of some aspects of the debate.

The church leaders say there is a great deal of concern about the sometimes vicious nature of the debate.

"Vitriol and personal attack add nothing of value to a decision-making process, and in fact demean all of us in the city," they say.

Their joint statement of support and concern comes after the Anglican Synod voted on options to replace Christ Church Anglican Cathedral.

A 55% majority voted this week to restore and rebuild. It will cost about $108 million.

Christchurch's Christian churches say the saga has been long and difficult. They say every Cantabrian must be aware of the angst and debate over the future of the building.

The church leaders say the decision to demolish or rebuild was for Anglicans to make. But many Christians have felt a stake in the matter, even from the sidelines.

They say many have prayerfully supported their Anglican brothers and sisters, their leaders, and Anglican Bishop, Victoria Matthews.

With the decision made, the churches say they express unequivocal support for the Anglican community. They look forward to seeing a building filled with people and praise again.

They say, "Christians are fallible humans… so we acknowledge our shortcomings. However, as followers in the footsteps of Jesus, we are glad to be called by God to bless the city with hope, joy, creativity, beauty and love."

Matthews, says she had supported demolition. But she says that a government's offer of funding had changed her mind.

She said a new Christ Church Anglican Cathedral should be ready within ten years.

Fr Rick Loughnan represented the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch on the group and Mike Stopforth the Catholic Bishop's Pastoral Office.

Source

• RNZ
• Catholic Diocese of Christchurch

Image: RNZ

He's ‘delighted' that it will return to being Christchurch's icon.

His wife, Carole Anderton, says her husband had been very pleased that the Anglican Synod decided to reinstate the cathedral, when it voted last week.

Groups in Christchurch have fought for some years over the earthquake-damaged cathedral's future.

Mr Anderton was a deputy prime minister in the Helen Clark government and held the Christchurch seat of Sydenham for 27 years. He has been ill for some months.

Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy awarded Mr Anderton insignia for services to Parliament earlier this month. He became a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit on the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June.

Helen Clark attended the ceremony.

Mr Anderton's wife says, "A lot of people think of Jim and Philip [Burdon] when they think of the fight to restore the cathedral, but really there was a whole team behind them that deserve the credit."

Following the synod vote, Philip Burdon, himself a former MP and cabinet minister, said he was "delighted, relieved and surprised".

He welcomed the end of uncertainty over the cathedral's future.

During the fight to save the cathedral and restore it, Mt Anderton campaigned at public and official levels.

In 2014 he wrote in the New Zealand Herald that what he called some of the most experienced and knowledgeable New Zealand and international seismic and structural engineers agreed that they could save the cathedral.

During the fight to save the cathedral and restore it, Mr Anderton campaigned at public and official levels.

In 2014 he wrote in the New Zealand Herald that what he called some of the most experienced and knowledgeable New Zealand and international seismic and structural engineers agreed that they could save the cathedral.

In 2014 he wrote in the New Zealand Herald that what he called some of the most experienced and knowledgeable New Zealand and international seismic and structural engineers agreed that they could save the cathedral.

He was adamant that no similar building in any other part of the world would remotely be a candidate for demolition.

He did not give up on his campaign when the cathedral's trustees had Supreme Court backing in 2013 to deconstruct the 132-year-old cathedral and build a new one on the same central city site.

He did not give up on his campaign when the cathedral's trustees had Supreme Court backing in 2013 to deconstruct the 132-year-old cathedral and build a new one on the same central city site.

Part of the reason for the cathedral's trustees decided to restore the building included financial help from the government.

Source

• Stuff
• NZ Herald
• Image: Stuff