Your Questions…. Answered

The Cathedral cannot be fixed… look at the newspaper photos !   No,  walk around it and see for yourself !  Yes, it is damaged, but everyone can see it is still basically intact.  Reputable consulting engineers have analysed the structure and foundations and found that it CAN be restored.  Fairly easily in fact.  They have even estimated the cost to be not much more than the inferior Modern Cathedral proposed by the Anglicans!

People before Buildings ! …   Rubbish ! … it is NOT a choice of one or the other !  People need buildings to live in, and to worship in too.  Most Anglicans don’t want to worship in sheds, that’s why The Cathedral looks impressive.  Restoring the Cathedral won’t hurt those in need.  How could it !  Funds will largely come from insurance and overseas donations !  Restoring the Cathedral will HELP EVERYONE, even those in need !

It is the Anglican’s property – they can do whatever they want with it !  … No !  The Anglican Church legally owns the Cathedral.  BUT, the wider community can rightly claim it as theirs.  They can claim this three ways:  public funding built it, huge historic value, and iconic status.  The Cathedral Anglicans are trying to downplay these things.  They are ignoring the public.  They appear cold and arrogant to many people.

It will not be as safe as a Modern Cathedral…  No !  The Cathedral will be restored to the same safety standards as all new buildings in Christchurch.

It will cost too much to Restore…   Rubbish !  Full restoration will cost about $67 million, a cost similar to that of the Cathedral Anglican’s Modern Cathedral.   Most of the money will come from insurance payouts, leaving about $25 million to be raised.  This will be done easily !  The average person in the street will pay nothing !

It will take too long to Restore…  No, stabilisation work could start immediately !  The Great Christchurch Building Trust has offered the Cathedral Anglicans to fully cover the cost of the initial stabilisation work.  This will cost about $7 million and would take about one year.  It would then be safe to enter the Cathedral and complete the restoration.  The Anglicans have rejected this offer !  The Anglicans are causing the delay !

The Sea Level is rising, so what’s the point – it will be flooded soon !    Nope…  A recent report by engineers working for the CCC stated that the sea level will rise at most by one metre by the year 2115.  Cathedral Square is 6.2 metres above sea level.  No problem 100 years out from now !