Council begs for help

Christchurch community groups may need to chip in with funding or hold working bees if they want their quake-damaged community facilities repaired. The Christchurch City Council was expecting insurance to cover 95 per cent of the cost of repairing its 1000-odd community buildings so only set aside $10 million in its Three Year Plan for repair work, but to date it has only succeeded in recovering about 45 per cent of repair costs from its insurer. With a potential $121m shortfall, councillors are keen to find out whether any of the groups that use the facilities might be willing to help with the repairs.