Christchurch City Council will contribute an extra $15 million to the rebuild of Christ Church Cathedral, as long as the Government and the Anglican Church do the same.
By Rachel Graham for RNZ
The rebuild of the earthquake-damaged cathedral has been on hold since 2024 because of a $45 million funding shortfall.
The council money depends on the Crown also contributing at least $15 million and the church showing it can complete the project, which was revised to $219 million after costs blew out to $248 million.
The Government has previously said it would not contribute more money to the cathedral rebuild, although in March New Zealand First leader Winston Peters pledged to contribute an extra $15 million if his party was part of the next government.
At a council finance and performance committee meeting on Tuesday, 12 councillors voted in favour of the extra funds and two abstained, while councillors Celeste Donovan, Yani Johanson and Andrei Moore voted against the move.
Councillor Jake McLelland — who supported the decision — said the money would help to close the book on Christchurch's earthquake legacy.
"We can't knock it down, it's not going to be any cheaper to encase it in a glass exo-skeleton and I don't think leaving it there in perpetuity is a real option either," he said.
McLelland said the council and government should continue to back the rebuild, even though costs had risen.
"When three parties agree to fund something, when there is a blow-out, the three parties have to come to the party and fix that problem. This is us doing that. This is us throwing the gauntlet to central government, this is us digesting the rat," he said.
Moore accused councillors of ignoring public feedback about whether they supported giving more financial support to the cathedral project.
"Fourteen per cent of the respondents supported funding the cathedral and our response to that has been not only to fund $15 million to the cathedral but also to expedite that to the annual plan rather than the long term plan that we asked them about in the first place, which will leave many wondering what the point was in having their say in the first place," he said.
Moore said the sum of $15 million had not been put out for public consultation and in his own informal survey of people in his Halswell ward, 91% of the 1200 respondents were opposed.
While the money would come from a $44 million council surplus, he said it was disingenuous to say it would not come from ratepayers' pockets.
"It could be used to reduce rates or pay down debt which would make it all that much easier to meet a rates cap," Moore said.
The council also voted to support two other buildings, with $15 million for the Canterbury Museum upgrade and a $28.6 million loan to be repaid through an international visitor entry fee, and $4 million for the Christchurch School of Music.
Both grants were also conditional on other funds to complete the projects.
Councillor Melanie Coker said she was torn about spending the surplus on the buildings when there were other areas that could benefit from the money but they were at the heart of the city.
"We had an earthquake and it kept us out of the city, so it was like a break-up with the city that we knew and we never got it back again. We need to heal our broken heart," she said.
Committee chairperson Sam MacDonald said the council commitment was about presenting the museum, school of music and cathedral with a challenge to find the balance of the funds, rather than writing a cheque.
"We have laid down a challenge to them go and find the rest of your money and demonstrate to us that you can finish this project and then we will give you the money," he said.
The decision must now be ratified as part of the annual plan.
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