A year after the first earthquake struck Canterbury, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) continues to work alongside property owners and leading authorities towards the best results for heritage.

The devastating earthquakes, particularly 22 February this year, caused a tragic loss of life.  There was also significant damage to many heritage buildings.  The 6.3 magnitude earthquake on 13 June further compounded the many issues facing the region, and also put back the plans for heritage properties already damaged and ready for repair.

The NZHPT faces similar challenges to those faced by other heritage owners, the business community and all Cantabrians. Dealing with insurance, assessing the cost of restoration, liaising with contractors and revenue issues are all issues the NZHPT shares along with thousands of others in the region. 

The NZHPT’s Christchurch office in Hereford Street was red-stickered following the February quake.  Fortunately we were able to retrieve our paper files and establish a temporary office.  Significant damage was sustained to two properties the NZHPT cares for on behalf of all New Zealanders – the Timeball Station (Category I) in Lyttelton, which is being dismantled, and Coton’s Cottage (Category II) in Hororata.

Much of the NZHPT’s work is done out of the public eye but appreciated by those wanting sound, effective and timely advice on what can be done to retain their heritage properties.  We have been prioritising efforts that support options for retention.  Much is dependent on the significance of the building, the extent of damage and the resources available to secure, repair and strengthen.  Private and public owners can then weigh up the cost and scale of what is required. 

The NZHPT is working closely with the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Agency (CERA), councils and other agencies providing heritage expertise from its architects, archaeologists, heritage advisors and contracted structural engineer. 

Our work - what the NZHPT is doing

The loss of heritage in the Canterbury earthquakes and many aftershocks has been considerable.

Earthquake-related advocacy work now forms the bulk of our staff commitment in Canterbury.  In addition to five NZHPT staff being sent to Christchurch in late February we have employed additional staff to assist heritage property owners. The NZHPT has attempted to contact all owners of registered heritage properties following both major events in September and February.  

The NZHPT has been assessing damage to buildings following the earthquakes in relation to both listed heritage buildings and character buildings and providing comments to the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Agency (CERA) and the relevant district councils.  Owners are making decisions on buildings damaged during the earthquake and the NZHPT is also working with owners looking for solutions for heritage retention.

Two archaeologists are recording pre-1900 and registered heritage buildings that are being demolished or deconstructed in the CBD as part of the authority process. This work captures important heritage information that would otherwise be permanently lost. An order in council relating to the archaeological provisions of the Historic Places Act 1993 ensures the NZHPT response to earthquake archaeological authority applications are processed within three working days after having received an application, or within five working days if the application relates to a site of interest to Maori.

As well as providing our heritage expertise, the NZHPT boosted the Canterbury Earthquake Heritage Buildings Fund by more than $360,000 from the NZHPT in June.  The NZHPT agreed to donate $250,000 to the Fund following the 4 September earthquake last year.  The organisation also ran a donations campaign through its membership which raised $112,000.  The campaign was extended until the end of January 2011 following the sharp 4.9 magnitude quake on Boxing Day and an increase in donations being sent.

The NZHPT, Christchurch City Council and CERA

The NZHPT is working with the wide range of agencies involved in the recovery of Canterbury – CERA, the district and city councils, Earthquake Commission and other contractors. 

CERA is responsible for signing-off the demolition of buildings in the red zone/cordon plus buildings over three storeys or that do not stand alone throughout Christchurch.  The council is responsible for demolitions of buildings outside the cordon that are stand alone and under three storeys as these are permitted activities under the Building Act – except where they are listed as heritage as this requires a resource consent.

For demolitions undertaken by CERA, paperwork is sent either from CERA or the building owner to the Christchurch City Council.  The Council identifies whether it is a heritage building (Groups 1 and 2 in the district plan and NZHPT registered buildings) and replies to CERA.  CERA sends a file on the building to the Council’s heritage section for assessment which then sends the request to the NZHPT for its assessment and recommendations.

The Council and NZHPT reports are then forwarded to CERA which makes a final decision on whether to partially or completely demolish.

Looking ahead

For the rest of the NZHPT, it is business as usual.  The diversion of staff and resources to the Canterbury region has meant extra pressures on current and future projects in other parts of the country.

In Christchurch, our work is assisting the recovery. The NZHPT is working alongside CERA in the formulation of the Recovery Strategy and the Christchurch City Council in the preparation of the Central City Recovery Plan. 

NZHPT staff around the rest of the country have picked up the reallocation of duties.  This includes answering media and public enquiries and handling resource consent and archaeological authority work.  

The Order in Council providing for emergency archaeological authorities (consents) affecting areas covered by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act continues until 18 April 2016. 

We expect the amount of consenting work to increase over the next few months as owners put together applications for the securing, repair and strengthening of heritage buildings and where new buildings are needed assisting owners with archaeological authority applications.

This is an extraordinary period in Canterbury’s history.  Amid the loss of the region’s heritage there are a number of success stories too – where owners have determined that their heritage properties will be restored.  In the coming weeks these positive stories will be told on the NZHPT’s website.