The Plan

View the Plan

• Central City Recovery Plan [PDF 12MB] [Scoop copy: christchurchcentralrecoveryplan.pdf]

• Central City Recovery Plan: Summary [PDF 2MB] [Scoop copy: christchurchcentralrecoveryplansummary.pdf]

• Central City Recovery Plan: Appendix 1 - Amendments to Christchurch City Council’s District Plan [PDF 2MB] [Scoop copy: christchurchcentralrecoveryplanappendix1.pdf]

Summary

The Canterbury earthquakes have provided an unprecedented opportunity to rethink, revitalise and renew central Christchurch. The area can be built back better than it was before, increasing its value to the wider city, the Canterbury region, and New Zealand as a whole. This opportunity is too good to pass up and the New Zealand Government in partnership with Christchurch City Council and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu is committed to making the most of it.

Vision

Central Christchurch will become the thriving heart of an international city.

It will draw on its rich natural and cultural heritage, and the skills and passion of its people, to embrace opportunities for innovation and growth.

Redevelopment will acknowledge the past and the events that have shaped the city, while reflecting the best of the new.

Status and effect of the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan

Under the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011, a Recovery Plan must be developed for the central business district (CBD) – the area bounded by Bealey, Fitzgerald, Moorhouse, Deans and Harper Avenues.

The Christchurch Central Recovery Plan is a critical statutory document. From the time of notification (in the NZ Gazette) of this Recovery Plan, those existing functions or powers under the Resource Management Act 1991 must not make decisions that are inconsistent with the Recovery Plan. These functions and powers include decisions on resource consents, and preparing or changing planning documents. The Recovery Plan can also require that specific objectives, policies and methods are included in or removed from statutory documents. If there is an inconsistency, the Recovery Plan prevails.

This Recovery Plan directs the Christchurch City Council to make a series of changes to its District Plan to ensure the objectives of the Recovery Plan are met.
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From the Summary document

Summary

The vision is for central Christchurch to become the thriving heart of an international city. It will draw on its rich natural and cultural heritage, and the skills and passion of its people, to embrace opportunities for innovation and growth.

Redevelopment will acknowledge the past and the events that have shaped the city, while reflecting the best of the new.

Recovery is not simply restoring what we had before the earthquakes, but making an even better city – which includes improving the social, economic, cultural and environmental wellbeing of greater Christchurch and its communities.

Redeveloping the central city is a key part of this recovery. The Plan also commits significant resources to develop central Christchurch into a vibrant, well-formed centre that responds to the needs not just of our generation, but also of those that follow.

The Christchurch Central Recovery Plan builds on the Christchurch City Council’s draft Central City Plan. During public consultation on that draft, the community submitted over 106,000 ideas.

People said they wanted a greener central city with buildings that contributed more strongly to the city’s identity. They wanted a more compact centre that supported a wider range of activities and was easier to get around. Building on these themes, this Recovery Plan sets out how this vision can be achieved.

The Recovery Plan defines the form of the central city, identifies the locations The Canterbury earthquakes have provided an unprecedented opportunity to rethink, revitalise and renew central Christchurch. We can build the area back better than it was before – increasing its social and cultural value to greater Christchurch, Canterbury and the rest of New Zealand.

It is an opportunity too good to pass up.

of key anchor projects needed to boost the recovery, and outlines block plans showing what the central city could look like in the future. It also outlines a path towards recovery and to a central Christchurch to be proud of – a distinctive, vibrant and prosperous 21st century city to live, work, play, learn, stay and invest in.

To keep and attract skilled people, Christchurch needs to offer the facilities, services and amenities expected in any similar city around the world.The Plan’s proposals are in line with international benchmarks for a major city and make the most of the opportunity to revisit the city’s design.

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