‘Fix square urgently’

Frustrated landowners say Cathedral Square is a wreck and needs action, as plans are unveiled for a new agency to manage the Christchurch rebuild.

Mayor Lianne Dalziel and Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee announced a new joint council-government entity called Regenerate Christchurch on Friday.

It would oversee the long-term development of the central city, the residential red zone, and New Brighton.

Details of the agency’s powers were sketchy but Brownlee indicated it would make regeneration plans that carried statutory weight. It might be able to designate land for special purposes and compulsorily acquire property.

Landowner Miles Yeoman urged the new entity to fix Cathedral Square to attract businesses and the public. His company planned to build two hotels in the square but must wait while paying $20,000 a year in rates.

He was one of many owners increasingly frustrated at being unable to develop their sites while the rebuild continued elsewhere.

‘‘The square has been overlooked. It is the heart of the city and nobody has done anything about it,’’ Yeoman said. ‘‘It’s coming up to five years after the event and it’s still pretty much an eyesore. You look about and there’s no-one around.

‘‘We’ve got no certainty for tenants. It’s so frustrating that the Cathedral’s taking this long and there’s no resolution.’’

John Greenwood, director of Central City Estates which owned the former ANZ site, said they had potential tenants and plans but were being thwarted by the lack of action and the rundown nature of the area. They had already lost ASB as a potential tenant.

‘‘There’s nothing happening. That’s had a huge impact on development north of the Cashel mall area,’’ Greenwood said. ‘‘Prospective tenants want to see the anchor project actually going up, or at least advanced plans leading to physical progress’’.

Yeoman said major office tenants had committed elsewhere, and the best hope for the square now was as a tourist and hospitality precinct. ‘‘They say the Convention Centre and a design for the square are happening but they just keep going past their timeframes. There’s no urgency.’’

He called for authorities to form a working group of owners and others connected with the square to get ‘‘some sort of decision’’.

The new co-owner of the derelict BNZ building, Surja Yang, wanted to demolish and rebuild but also called for action on the square. He wanted progress on both the anchor projects and private developments.

Elsewhere in the square, there was vacant land all around the Novotel hotel and on the former Heritage tower site, while wouldbe hotel sites in the north-west quadrant awaited Convention Centre dates. The Millennium Hotel and old Post Office building remained fenced off.

Brownlee said the new convention centre was ‘‘highly unlikely’’ to be built by 2018.

Meanwhile, the Government had appointed an independent consultant to look at the future of the damaged Christ Church Cathedral, four years after the Anglican Church reached an impasse over its fate.