Transition bill on track for October

New legislation outlining transition arrangements in Christchurch should be ready to go before Parliament next month, mayor Lianne Dalziel says.

This year, the Prime Minister announced the Government planned to replace the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act with a new bill that would formalise the transition of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority’s (Cera) functions to other Government agencies, local councils and Ngai Tahu.

It was proposed the bill would establish a new commercial entity, tentatively called Regenerate Christchurch, that would be responsible for the regeneration of the city.

Since that announcement was made, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee and Dalziel have been discussing what should be in the bill, the scope of the new commercial entity and how it should work.

Dalziel said on Friday that she was anticipating draft legislation would be ready to bring to Parliament by the end of October.

She and Brownlee had been talking about how to establish a genuinely joint body that could lead the city through the next phase of its recovery. She said there was a real commitment to working together.

‘‘I think when we get there the people of Christchurch will be really pleased to see the model that brings us together in a joint arrangement with central Government. That sense of partnership hasn’t been as strong as I would have hoped it would have been from the outset, but I think we have really got it this time.’’

When asked if there were any sticking points, Dalziel said: ‘‘No. It really is going very well. I’ve felt, in terms of my role as mayor of Christchurch, very engaged in the process and I’ve felt that where we’ve had issues they have been heard and that we’ve been able to work through them.

‘‘I think people will see this is not Cera, it is not CCDU [Christchurch Central Development Unit], and it is not the council. It is a genuine partnership,’’ she said.

Dalziel said the legislation would go through the select committee process so people would have an opportunity to make submissions on it.