The first passenger train from Piction to Christchurch since the devastating Kaikōura earthquake has arrived in the Garden City - Kathy Templeman was on board and says it was an emotional experience.
On the eve of the memorial service for the Christchurch earthquake, the Labour party is laying into the Government's handling of the city's ditching as a Rugby World Cup venue.
A Christchurch businessman has told the Earthquake Royal Commission the city council was a nightmare to deal with when he was trying to strengthen his building before the September quake.
As Auckland and Northland brace for more atrocious weather, city leaders are calling for funding to repair the city's broken infrastructure to be along the lines of the help given to Christchurch after the quakes. Auckland deputy mayor Desley Simpson says that the damage so far is equivalent to the biggest non earthquake event the country has ever had and should be treated accordingly. The Opportunities Party says the "alliance" model established after the earthquakes, was effective and would work for Auckland's rebuild, because it provides a structure that the Central Government can fund directly. ToP leader Raf Manji was a Christchurch councillor after the quakes and closely involved in the rebuild. He tells Kathryn Ryan it is vital to ensure water and transport infrastructure is repaired quickly and efficiently, especially with a view to future extreme weather events - and there is much to learn from the post-quake rebuild.
After Christchurch's devastating earthquakes, whole areas of the city, particularly out East, are starting from scratch - Aranui is one of them. Today, Lianne Dalziel cut the ribbon on the suburb's new community centre.
The rebuild of central Christchurch has been taken out of the control of the city council and will now be managed by a newly formed unit within the Government's Earthquake Recovery Authority.
Christchurch will lose its Rugby World Cup games with a report finding the city's stadium is unfit to host matches in the wake of last month's earthquake, British media is reporting.
Auckland structural engineer John Scarry is concerned that the series of investigations into earthquake related collapses of Christchurch buildings won't result in the changes needed to make the city safer.
The Christchurch City Council's control of the earthquake recovery plan has been taken out of its hands, to the delight of business leaders, but to the chagrin of some local councilors.
As businesses in Christchurch start to think about what, if any, help they can expect from the government following Tuesday's devastating earthquake, some small businesses around the city are starting to reopen.
Christchurch's historic Theatre Royal will reopen for business in November, with bookings about to open for the first show, the Royal New Zealand Ballet season of "A Christmas Carol" The 106-year old theatre has been closed for almost four years because of earthquake damage in the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. The $40million rebuild and restoration project will be completed over the next five months and on 17 November 2014, the 'Grand Old Lady' of New Zealand theatre will reopen her doors for performances. With so few venues for performance left in the city, including the Town Hall out of commission indefinitely, the rebuild of the Theatre Royal is very good news for Christchurch audiences Chief executive Neil Cox explains the process of getting oldest Edwardian theatre in the country back in use and mounting the large scale theatrical productions it has been famous for.
About two hundred of those who lost loved ones in collapsed buildings in Christchurch's 2011 earthquake, heard an apology from the city's mayor, Lianne Dalziel yesterday. A royal commission in to faulty buildings found serious errors by engineers and the Christchurch City Council 185 people died during the earthquake on the 22nd of February, 2011. David Selway who lost his sister Susan Selway in the CTV Building, said it was good to hear a heartfelt apology from the mayor for the role her council played in signing off the building as safe.
The historic Townsend Teece telescope in Otautahi Christchurch was badly damaged in the 2011 earthquake, but has been expertly restored and is now reinstalled back in its central city home at the Arts Centre.
The Christchurch City Council has voted to fast track the demolition of two heritage buildings that it says were severely damaged in September's earthquake and pose an immediate danger to people's safety.
In the bringing together of art and mental health, Kim Morton is a champion. Following the Christchurch earthquakes, Kim founded Otautahi Creative Spaces, a busy creative community in inner city suburb Philipstown.
Gerry Brownlee is the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister. Hugo Kristinsson is a South Brighton resident who stood for mayor last year on the issue of flood risk and land damage. David Stringer is the spokesperson for the community lobby group Insurance Watch - which has been seeking answers from the council since 2011 about the flood risk to the city. Nine to Noon speaks with all three about the recent flooding in Christchurch.
Topics - The Mayor of Christchurch says he's confident the city council will speed up the processing of building consents and won't lose its authority to grant them. Are Christchurch's frustrations with the Earthquake Commission a result of some kind of misunderstanding. Media hype's being blamed for skyrocketing house prices in parts of Auckland.
Christchurch's Blessed Sacrament Cathedral was set to be repaired following the Canterbury earthquakes, but the new Bishop Paul Martin has decided it's too expensive and has decided to rebuild closer to the city centre.
Christchurch has a big bill to contend with, if it still wants the multi-use stadium that's been in the works since the earthquakes 11 years ago. The problem-plagued project has blown out another $150 million, meaning it's going to cost $680 million and counting. The finish date's been pushed out too - to April 2026. Christchurch City Council's punting the hefty decision making back to the ratepayers. The options - increase the budget, scale back the project, or halt work altogether. Tessa Guest reports, and Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge talks to Lisa Owen.
Church bells toll and thousands stand in silence to commemorate the Christchurch earthquake. Petrol prices go up, but the quake damaged city is spared and what was found under a statue in Cathedral Square?
The family of a man killed while trying to reach his family after the February earthquake in Canterbury wants the Christchurch City Council to ensure people in Lyttelton are not cut off again.
As the fourth anniversary of the earthquake which devastated Christchurch approaches, the slow pace of the rebuild has surprised many. But how quickly have other earthquake hit cities returned to their former glory? Radio New Zealand Christchurch reporter, Rachel Graham, visited Japan for an Insight documentary to compare the progress made in the Sendai area, almost four years after it was hit by a magnitude 9 earthquake and a mega tsunami. She also visited Kobe to look at the impact on that city, and the lessons learnt, 20 years after it was hit by a major earthquake.
More now from today's post cabinet news conference where the Prime Minister announced that a national memorial service to mark the Christchurch earthquake will be held in the city on Friday March the 18th.
Days after the city of Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, This Way Up's presenter Simon Morton traverses the city using the Avon River as his route. Travelling on a bicycle from the source of the Avon in the West to Heathcote Estuary in the East, where the Avon meets the Pacific, everyone has a story to tell.
Days after the city of Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, This Way Up's presenter Simon Morton traverses the city using the Avon River as his route. Travelling on a bicycle from the source of the Avon in the West to Heathcote Estuary in the East, where the Avon meets the Pacific, everyone has a story to tell.
A prominent Christchurch property investor says the Government's anchor projects meant to help rebuild the city faster, has instead slowed it down. After the 2011 earthquake, the Government launched a recovery plan for the CBD, which had 16 anchor projects designed to spur on the rebuild. However, many have been plagued by delays and are still unfinished. Property investor Antony Gough told RNZ reporter Anan Zaki that unlike the Government, it was the private sector which ploughed ahead with the rebuild.
Topics - Eight days on from the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 161 people in Christchurch, officials have announced that the rescue effort will now transition to a recovery operation. Dunedin shares the nation's sorrow for Christchurch - but the ODT reports today that it could also benefit from an influx of workers and businesses relocating from the Garden City. Some Christchurch landlords have been labelled opportunistic vultures for ramping up rents for homeless businesses trying to find temporary office space.
A lecturer at Canterbury University's School of Forestry, Justin Morgenroth on new research into the lifesaving role played by trees in the Christchurch earthquakes - and the importance of urban forests for the future of the city.
Six years on from the Christchurch earthquakes, one in five residents of the city say the disaster is still taking its toll. The latest wellbeing survey by the Canterbury DHB found people living in north-east and east Christchurch were the most likely to be suffering from issues such as anxiety, from ongoing aftershocks, being in a damaged environment, and surrounded by construction.
Santarium is cutting 36 jobs in Christchurch as it pulls out of manufacturing Weetbix in the city. The final engineering report on the site says the factory's tower block is an earthquake risk, and demolition starts tomorrow.