‘Zilch’ progress on cathedral
A senior figure in the Anglican church claims a decision to the reinstate Christ Church Cathedral is being ignored by some in the church in the hope it can be changed.
David Morrell, canon emeritus of the cathedral and former city missioner, said there had been ‘‘zilch’’ progress since the church agreed to fix the central Christchurch building nine months ago.
The badly earthquake-damaged cathedral had been at the centre of a dispute about its future until the synod, the church’s governing body, voted in September to reinstate the building. The restoration is expected to cost $104 million.
The agreement is conditional on a multi-million dollar contribution from the Government, city council and restoration advocates.
Morrell said the community had ‘‘heaved a sigh of relief’’ when the church accepted a ‘‘very generous’’ offer from the council and the Crown.
The offer included $10m cash from the Crown plus an interestfree $15m loan that may not need repayment, $10m cash from the city council subject to budget approval, $13.7m from the Great Christchurch Buildings Trust, and a public fundraising campaign. A joint venture will be formed to run the project.
Morrell said the joint venture agreement had been ‘‘about to be signed’’ every month so far this year.
‘‘Clearly there are a few still trying to white ant the decision from within,’’ he said.
A spokeswoman for the Anglican Diocese said that since the synod vote, work had been ‘‘under way to implement the commercial terms agreed’’ between the trustees and Crown.
She said the Church Property Trustees, which owns the cathedral on behalf of the church, and the Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Trust, the group formed to raise public funds and deliver the project, were negotiating conditions for the joint venture. They were looking at how the parties would work together, and the terms of their deal, to pave the way for the joint venture’s new chairperson and directors when they are appointed.
Morrell suggested the time taken could be ‘‘a misguided effort’’ to have the matter referred back to the next annual synod meeting in September, where it could be undermined.
He claimed the church was ‘‘proving ourselves to be fickle, faithless, and untrustworthy’’.
The city’s former Anglican bishop, Victoria Matthews, claimed when she stepped down in April that the cathedral restoration was being driven by ‘‘the wealthy and the powerful’’. She criticised the project’s fundraising trust and the Great Christchurch Building Trust which campaigned to save the building, saying the cost was high and people in the city were in need.
Businessman and former cabinet minister Philip Burdon, who co-chairs the Great Christchurch Building Trust, said he was surprised negotiations were taking so long and it was causing ‘‘deep concern’’ in the community.
He said the delay seemed ‘‘excessive, and unreasonable’’.
‘‘The community is entitled to know why the church has failed to find an agreement with the Crown and why has it taken so long for the physical work to commence,’’ he said.