Checkpoint Top Stories for Monday 31 March 2014

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Police link a West Coast attack on two tourists with the death of another woman in Christchurch. A swarm of earthquakes in Hawkes Bay and Teina Pora will be released on parole.

Quake victims welcome idea of earthquake court

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch people who have had to battle insurance companies over the repair or rebuild of earthquake damaged homes are welcoming the Labour party's idea of an earthquake court to settle disputes.

Historic telescope back in business

Audio, Radio New Zealand

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.

House Talk | Episode 6: Lessons from the Rubble

Audio, Radio New Zealand

What are the lessons from the Christchurch earthquakes? The Government was slow in their quake response, but does that mean we should give more property market power to the private sector?

City council could lose power to authorise building consents

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch City Council has received a strong warning from the Earthquake Recovery Minister to speed up its processing of building consents or lose its power to authorise consents.

Almost 100 jobs to go at Grand Chancellor Hotel

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Almost 100 people are losing their jobs at Christchurch's Hotel Grand Chancellor this Friday, the latest in a series of significant job losses in the wake of the earthquake.

50 year old message in a bottle found in Chch

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A message in a bottle, hidden under the floor of a Christchurch home for over fifty years, has been discovered during earthquake repairs and its writer's been tracked down.

Chch school says it's been blindsided by proposal to shut it down.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A Christchurch school says it's been blindsided by a proposal to shut it down. Redcliffs School has been running out of a deaf education centre in Sumner since the earthquakes.

Nothing to fear over buildings identified as potentially weak

Audio, Radio New Zealand

People will be told by Christmas if they are in unsafe buildings that have the same flaw as the CTV building, which collapsed killing 115 people in the Christchurch earthquake.

Lyttelton Port Expansion Worries some Banks Peninsula Residents

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Lyttelton Port near Christchurch is now almost three and a half hectares larger than it was before the earthquakes - as earthquake rubble is dumped in the harbour to reclaim land.

Summing up today in Tower earthquake insurance case

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Both sides are expected to sum up their cases today in the legal battle between Tower Insurance and a Christchurch couple, over the amount owed on an earthquake damaged home.

Chch maying be missing out on millions in insurance

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A central-Christchurch property owner says attempts by insurance companies to limit the amount of money they end up paying out for earthquake damage, is just part of doing business.

People being allowed into cordoned-off city this morning

Audio, Radio New Zealand

As we go to air, Christchurch property and business owners people are being allowed into the cordoned-off central city for the first time since the earthquake twelve days ago.

Labour tries to make political hay out of World Cup loss

Audio, Radio New Zealand

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.

List of historic building to be destroyed grows

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The reality of just how many historic buildings will be lost to the Christchurch earthquake is now becoming apparent with Civil Defence adding another 123 buildings to the demolition list.

Small band of campanologists keep bellringing alive

Audio, Radio New Zealand

With the silencing of the Cathedral bells in Christchurch following February's earthquake there are now just six places in New Zealand where a full set of bells can be rung.

Building panel explains just what went wrong with CTV building

Audio, Radio New Zealand

An inquiry ordered by the Government has found the CTV building which failed massively in the February Christchurch earthquake did not meet building standards when it was constructed in 1986.

Officials put barriers in way of strengthening building - owner

Audio, Radio New Zealand

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.

CTV designer apologises to families for the first time

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The man whose firm designed the CTV building has apologised for the first time to the families of the 115 people killed when the building collapsed in the Christchurch earthquake.

Chch councillor Raf Manji to take on Gerry Brownlee in Ilam

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch councillor Raf Manji announces plans to stand against Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee in Ilam at the general election. He tells John Campbell why he is standing as an independent.

Springsteen to play in Chch on eve of quake anniversary

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Boss is back - and he and his band, the E Street band, are going to Christchurch on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Canterbury earthquake this summer.

EQC accused of ignoring true extent of damage to Chch homes

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A Christchurch man says EQC misled him about the earthquake damage to his home and deliberately under-scoped the repairs that were needed. David Townshend said his warnings were ignored.

New Chch City Council has first meeting with EQ Minister

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The newly elected Christchurch City Council had its first meeting with the Earthquake Recovery Minister last night, and councillors say it was the beginning of a much better working relationship.

3 years on quake homewners are still wrangling with insurers

Audio, Radio New Zealand

On the third anniversary of the first major earthquake to hit Christchurch thousands of people with the most badly damaged homes are still wrangling with their insurance companies over rebuilds.

Court decision on EQC policy bittersweet for Flockton residents

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Residents of Christchurch's flood-prone Flockton Basin say a court judgment on how the Earthquake Commission handles claims based on the increased flood risk caused by the earthquakes is bitter sweet.

Disappointment as Bishop decides to demolish Chch cathedral

Audio, Radio New Zealand

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.

Kaikoura cheese shop rolling again

Audio, Radio New Zealand

After the Christchurch earthquakes, Daniel and Sarah Jenkins decided to pack up everything they own and move to Kaikoura. They opened Kaikoura Cheese and talked to our reporter Max Towle about getting the shop rolling again

23 job losses as Nelson rest home closes

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Elderly and ill people evacuated from Christchurch to Nelson after the February earthquake are having to move for a second time, following the sudden closure of a rest home in Nelson.

CERA spending money when cheaper option exists

Audio, Radio New Zealand

People in Christchurch fighting to save their Port Hills homes are astounded the Earthquake Recovery Authority is set on spending millions of dollars to buy them out when a cheaper option exists.

Chch still waiting for transport plan three years on

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Three years on from the earthquakes that crippled Christchurch's infrastructure, the city has yet to see costings and timeframes for the delivery of a revamped transport system for the central city.