‘Veil of secrecy’ feared as trust readies for repairs
Restoration of the Christ Church Cathedral could fall behind a ‘‘veil of secrecy’’ because the Government is not part of the deal, a heritage campaigner has warned.
The restoration, which will use $35 million of public money, will be controlled by three private entities. This means the project will not be subject to the Official Information Act (OIA) – a law that allows documents related to public bodies to be released.
Restore Christ Church Cathedral Group cochairman Mark Belton, who campaigned for restoration of the cathedral, said the project should be more transparent.
‘‘Transparency should be the overriding principle in this given it is a project of such high public interest and there is a lot of government and council money going into it,’’ he said.
‘‘I am not comfortable with this project slipping behind a veil of secrecy. The public needs to know that their money will be wisely spent.’’
Restoration is being partly funded by a
$10m Christchurch City Council grant, a
$10m Crown cash contribution, and a $15m government loan that would not have to be paid back if certain conditions were met.
The deal to restore the cathedral is between Church Property Trustees (CPT), which owns Anglican land and properties, and a new trust established to represent the Government.
The independent trust, called the Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Trust, is a ‘‘private entity’’ and not subject to the OIA, according to a joint statement by CPT and Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration Megan Woods.
CPT and the trust will both be party to a joint venture, which will govern and manage the restoration. The Government is not a party to the joint venture, which is a private company headed by Christchurch International Airport director Justin Murray. A spokeswoman for Woods said the previous Government made the decision to form the trust.
‘‘The process for reinstatement with an independent trust has been a longstanding feature of this project, recommended by the previous Government’s cathedral working group and part of the Synod decision to proceed with restoration,’’ he said. CPT did not respond to questions as to why the trust was established. Woods and CPT also said the deal to restore the cathedral will not be made public, only a summary of its contents will be released.
The deal was due to be signed by both the trust and CPT by July 12, but has not yet been signed by either party. The joint statement said it should be signed in the next two weeks.