This milestone is positive for those people who are ready to more forward. It also shows the process is working.

I know this a difficult time for a number of people having to move from their homes and communities. I really want to urge people to take their time – it is a big decision and there are a lot of things to work through.

We’re encouraging people to speak to their lawyers and get advice from others who are working through the same issues. Home owners should ensure they have all their documentation, including confirmation of insurance (and EQC) payments received, ready to present to their lawyer.

Remember, if you need assistance or have any queries call us on 0800 RING CERA (0800 746 423) or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for land enquiries or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for general enquiries. Or drop into our Avondale Earthquake Assistance Centre at the 141 Breezes Road, Avondale which is open weekdays from 10am to 6.30pm.

Following the announcement last week that around 9,700 residential properties in the Christchurch Port Hills area were rezoned from white to green we held community meetings in Sumner, Lyttelton, Cashmere, and Little River. These meetings were well attended with an average of about 400 people turning out, who were able to share their concerns and have a number of questions answered.

To better understand some of these issues in the Port Hills, which are mostly around rock fall, cliff collapse and land slips, we have another geotechnical video from our CERA chief geotechnical engineer, Dr Jan Kupec, You can watch it on our website www.cera.govt.nz

The Tonkin and Taylor presentation about what happened to the land can be found at www.cera.govt.nz/land-information/land-damage while the video which explains liquefaction and lateral spreading and one explaining sink holes can be found on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/cerachch

There’s a lot of information on our website which gets about 10,000 visits each week and there have also been over nine million visits to www.landcheck.org.nz since it started. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter are also being used a lot.

Consultation on the draft Recovery Strategy began on Saturday and will run until the end of October. The Strategy is a suggested road map for recovery.

A Strategy summary and comment form will be delivered to all Canterbury households from Saturday 17 September and will be available from service centres and libraries in Christchurch City and Waimakariri and Selwyn Districts. It’s also on our website.

We will be holding community meetings and information sessions with key organisations to get input into the Strategy. So make sure you have your say and give us your views on what you think the priorities and timelines should be as we work through the recovery.

Roger Sutton
Chief Executive
Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority