Market transparency key to the Christchurch rebuild

Market transparency key to the Christchurch rebuild

27 June 2013

"The agreement between Government and the Christchurch City Council on cost sharing arrangements for infrastructure and the anchor projects in the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan is an important milestone but now needs to be backed by a comprehensive plan and transparent process about how the projects will be procured and delivered," says Stephen Selwood Chief Executive of the New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development.

"There is significant private sector interest in the Canterbury rebuild from design and construction to finance and operation. This includes investors and companies from across New Zealand and internationally with a sound track record of delivery and necessary access to finance, technology and commercial expertise.

"But confidence to invest and commit resources is dependent on the scale of the investment opportunity; the commitment of the Council and the Crown to partner with the private sector; the clarity of project timing; and when and how procurement decisions will be made.

"Openness and transparency of the process is particularly important if we want to attract investment from outside of Canterbury.

"The Government has stated that new timelines and designs for projects will be announced progressively over the coming months, giving impetus to private sector developers as the public sector’s vision of the CBD becomes clearer.

"The industry's preference is that a Canterbury project pipeline is developed which clearly sets out, for all parties to see, when and how projects will be brought to market.

"This should include the timeline for each project as it moves from indicative to detailed business case, to market sounding, expressions of interest, to request for proposal, bid evaluation and the award of the contract.

"Once this is put in place it will be critical that both the Crown and the Council adhere to the timelines and ensure that the very best expertise is employed by each party to effectively manage procurement and delivery of projects.

"The more certainty that can be provided to the construction and finance sectors the stronger will be the competition and the greater the capacity of the industry to deliver," Selwood says.

ENDS

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