Christchurch's red zone residents may have to provide their own infrastructure services

Wednesday 26th June 2013

Christchurch residents who continue to live in "red zone" areas may have to provide their own generator, water supply, sewerage facilities and roads in the future as local authorities won't fix services in those areas.

Some 124 property owners in earthquake damaged red zone areas have declined a government offer to buy their properties, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority chief executive Roger Sutton told Parliament's finance and expenditure select committee. Continuing to provide council services to those areas would cost an estimated $5 million a year, he said.

"If services break down they won't be replaced," Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee told the select committee. Whether existing services should continue to be provided was a question for local authorities, the Waimakariri District Council and Christchurch City Council, he said.

"The estimated cost for maintaining services into those homes is very very expensive," Brownlee said. "I don't think there is a ratepayer in Christchurch or Waimakariri district who would be happy for their rates to be spent at the levels that would be required to maintain those places long-term in order that people could avail themselves of what is a wider community utility.

"They would have to make provision for at some point providing those services in some different way."

He declined to advise people on whether they should plan to provide their own generators, sewerage or pathways.

Separately, the government and Christchurch City Council will tomorrow detail how they plan to share the cost of building some infrastructure and major projects.

Brownlee declined to provide further details on the arrangement ahead of the announcement.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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