Following a special meeting today of the Christchurch Anglican Diocesan Synod, the Church has agreed to commit further funding to the Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Project.

In April it was announced that the project faced a funding shortfall of around $114m. This shortfall assumes further fundraising and a contribution from the Church. The Church has been considering ways to contribute a further $16m, above its insurance funds, to this important icon of the city.

Anglican Bishop, The Rt Rev’d Dr Peter Carrell, said the Church has now agreed that further funds be applied to the Cathedral reinstatement project.

“Synod agreed, in principle, to reduce the seismic design capacity of the building, instead pursuing a seismic strengthening approach successfully completed at the Arts Centre,” Bishop Peter said.

In addition, the recommendation by Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd (CCRL) to remove other elements of the concept design was accepted.

“The Cathedral will meet 67% New Building Standard (NBS) without the complex and risky installation of the base isolators. This would also attract significant savings of time. CCRL is continuing to explore further savings to achieve a target cost in the range of $209 to $219 million, with a resulting funding gap of $75 to $85 million.”

“Reducing other elements of the concept design will also include deferring the construction of the Visitor and Cathedral Centres.” he said.

CCRL Chair, Mark Stewart said he was heartened by the support from Synod.

“The project, as originally agreed [between the Church, Government, and Council] is no longer attainable. The decisions made by Synod [today] will make a major difference to the overall project cost and demonstrate good will for upcoming discussions with Council and Government,” Mark Stewart said.

During the Synod meeting Bishop Peter presented ways the Church could demonstrate their commitment to supporting the financial challenge the project faces.

“This is a positive step forward, however the agreements reached are reliant on a solution combining support from the other parties, including donors, the Council and the central government.

We will all need to work together,” Bishop Peter said.

This is only the first element of a solution. We cannot do this alone.”

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