Christchurch is still struggling 10 years on from the earthquake with vacant spaces and little development. In the surrounding areas of Christchurch in Selwyn, inland and in the Waimakariri District to the north it's boom times, with the councils unable to keep up with building consents. The regions have continued to grow over the last 10 years after people initially moved there after the earthquake to escape the bumpy roads, red zones and EQC battles. RNZ's Sally Murphy reports.
A Christchurch man with terminal cancer is using his final days to battle his insurance company, a decade on from the deadly earthquakes. Brian Shaw owns an apartment that's in a block of 11. They were all damaged in 2011. Shaw is a building consent officer. He says getting technical reports and chasing a settlement with insurer Vero has already cost the unit owners about $400,000, and they still have not even made it to court. On Friday morning he will be protesting outside Vero's Christchurch office, along with other unhappy customers.
After a day of remembering the terrible events of 10 years ago, Christchurch got to celebrate last night with an international T20 match between the Black Caps and Australia. It was the first international match played under lights in the city since the earthquake. Conan Young headed along to Hagley Oval where a sold out crowd was treated to some champagne cricket.
Joy Reid nearly gave up journalism while struggling with PTSD after covering the Christchurch earthquakes, but went on to her dream role as the Europe correspondent for TVNZ.
After lengthy construction and Covid-19 delays, a centrepiece in Christchurch's earthquake rebuild will finally open its doors today. The $475 million convention centre called Te Pae is already booked to host 150 events next year, but they're not expected to be money-makers. Reporter Jean Edwards took a tour.
The Student Volunteer Army (SVA) are pulling together their troops to assist in the Canterbury clean-up . SVA chief executive Sam Johnson has been putting out the call to arms. He says it's time to help the region's farmers who helped Christchurch after the earthquakes. Sam Johnson spoke to Susie Ferguson.
The Afghanistan President has fled the country, there's chaos at the airport and streets are blocked with cars trying to leave the city, the death toll from a devastating 7-point-2-magnitude earthquake in Haiti rises to more than 700, and there are still no arrests after one teenager was killed and another two injured in a stabbing at a Christchurch party.
A new research project will study the ongoing impact of "quake brain" on people's memory and other cognitive functions a decade after the Canterbury earthquakes; a Masterton print business that can't find a way to recycle its plastic waste has highlighted a national problem; a programme offering free period products for all school students is to be rolled out nationwide from June; and why don't we eat possum?
Motoko Kakubayashi joins us from Toyko where they are also about to mark a significant anniversary. A few weeks after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit the east coast of Japan, triggering a tsunami that destroyed large parts of the coast, including damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. More than 15,000 lives were lost, more than 2000 still remain missing. In one afternoon, half a million people became homeless, and the search for family and friends at evacuation shelters began.
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.
In the years that have followed the devastating Christchurch earthquake, there have been many stories of the struggles people have faced. Tonight we bring you the tale of the little school in Christchurch's east that took on Wellington's big decision makers and won. Redcliffs School finally reopened last year, after spending the best part of a decade battling for its survival. Our reporter Nick Truebridge and cameraman Nate McKinnon caught up with Redcliffs' principal Rose McInerney to reflect on a tumultuous last 10 years.
As we approach the tenth anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake there are renewed calls for an inquiry into how Southern Response dealt with Canterbury earthquake claimants. Last year the government set up a support package for those who were short changed by Southern Response for their earthquake repairs. It came after a landmark High Court case found Southern Response misled and deceived Karl and Alison Dodds. Insurance claimants advocate, Ali Jones, says ten years on, lessons haven't been learned from how people were treated by Southern Response. She told RNZ reporter Sally Murphy that dealing with them is hell.
