Sage Eugenie: Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sage Eugenie: Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 07 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6392. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
EUGENIE SAGE (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party is pleased to support this bill the Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill but I join with my colleague Ruth Dyson the member for Port Hills in expressing some puzzlement over the way in which the Minister in a very eloquent speech today described with a huge amount of knowledge and enthusiasm and passion the heritage values of Riccarton Bush the buildings there and the forest and yet he is the same member who called heritage buildings in Christchurch “old dungers” and who in his role as the Minister responsible for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority has seen the demolition of much of the heritage character of Christchurch. 
So what we are seeing here in this bill is the protection and the retention of Riccarton Bush Riccarton House and Deans Cottage improved governance arrangements for that area and an improved management plan regime and criteria for Riccarton Bush but that same care and attention is not being applied to the rest of our heritage character in Christchurch. There we see a very aggressive demolition strategy by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority. It is tragic that we do not have that same stewardship that we are showing and the Riccarton Bush Trust has shown through its trust deed and its care and stewardship of Riccarton Bush given to heritage in Christchurch because it is not just about the cost in terms of dollars. It was the vision of the Deans family which set aside the forest and the buildings at Deans Bush for the people of Christchurch. We need to show that same vision in protecting the character of Christchurch which attracts visitors to the city and which is part of the city’s identity because by safeguarding that we safeguard part of the city’s economy. By destroying heritage we create a wasteland in the city—an expanse of gravel concrete and desolation and a city that has no heart. 
We need to show that same care that we are giving to Riccarton Bush to the remaining heritage buildings in the city. If we are talking about money $10 million has been given to heritage buildings in Christchurch and half of that to the Arts Centre. Worthy yes but we need to increase that putea so that we can encourage owners who want to conserve their buildings like the NG building on Madras Street which is threatened by the authority’s blueprint for the central city. There are a lot of owners who want to keep their buildings. 
The New Zealand Transport Agency needs to be encouraged to protect the Lyttelton Tunnel building. It is using the rockfall risk to say that the building must be demolished. Well if it is rockfall why is the State highway and the access to Lyttelton Tunnel not closed to protect people travelling on that road every day? 
This is a good bill but the sentiments of the member who has sponsored it which are very valuable need to be reflected and carried over to the protection of our heritage in the city so that we have a city that has character that people want to continue to visit and that has an identity that has been established in part through its heritage buildings.