Unused cathedral funds may be spent elsewhere
The unspent $7 million from ratepayers destined for the Christ Church Cathedral rebuild has been earmarked for other heritage projects, but the public may yet get a say.
Less than a week ago, the team behind the cathedral restoration told the Christchurch City Council to hold on to the remainder of its $10m commitment to the project.
Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd (CCRL) failed to raise the $30m required to move on to the next stage of the project by its self-imposed deadline, and will meet with city councillors behind closed doors next Tuesday to discuss next steps.
The meeting with council – a week earlier than scheduled – will be the day after the CCRL board meet to consider abandoning the project until further notice.
A council spokesperson said it was too soon to officially say what would happen to ratepayers’ unspent $7m contribution or the targeted levy (about $6.50 per household per year) – used to generate the city’s $10m contribution – which isn’t due to end until 2028.
However, deputy mayor Pauline Cotter said the council decided in June 2018 unspent cathedral funds are expected to be made available to other heritage projects. That provision wasn’t in the original June 2017 decision (which was made in secret), but it followed public consultation in 2018, in which a slight majority of people voted against funding the restoration.
Cr Andrei Moore said, based on that consultation, the money should be returned to ratepayers and the levy should be stopped immediately.
Cr Tyla Harrison-Hunt, on the other hand, was in favour of holding the money until such a time where CCRL was in a position to resurrect the project.
Cr Sara Templeton said the conversation should be more nuanced than “all or nothing”. She and Cr Tyrone Fields said Cathedral Square could be revitalised regardless of what happened to the Cathedral.
Templeton said although the 2018 decision (which she opposed – she thought the proposed $10m contribution should be halved) said funds could go to other heritage projects, she thought the wording of it left the door open to alternatives. She said the council could potentially let the public decide during the 2025 annual plan.
Other elected members either didn’t offer an opinion, or said they wanted to wait until after the Tuesday meeting to give one.
CCRL announced last Friday that it may abandon the project, after central government refused its request for $60m (it previously gave CCRL $25m).
Finance Minister Nicola Willis told The Press the Government didn’t want to spend more public money on what was a private, religious space.
The project has a funding shortfall of between $75m and $85m, and is expected to cost up to $219m in total.