Woods MeganGREATER CHRISTCHURCH REGENERATION AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration): I move That the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Amendment Bill be now read a second time.I am pleased to be here today to give this second reading speech—pleased because this amendment bill supports the transition back to local leadership of the regeneration in greater Christchurch something for which there is broad support at both central and local government levels. In 2016 when the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Act was passed it was necessary to provide an enabling framework for the Crown to continue to have an active role in regeneration. However it has become clear that it is time; time to accelerate the transition of regeneration responsibilities back into the hands of local leadership. The 2019 annual review of the Act completed in September 2019 supports this notion having identified that a tipping point had been reached and that the Act is no longer required in its current form. We know the people and the long-term institutions on the ground in Christchurch are capable of leading regeneration and this bill will allow them to take on more of an active leadership role. I'd like to thank the members of the Governance and Administration Committee and particularly the chair Dr Jian Yang for their consideration of the bill and the submissions that were received. I acknowledge the additional effort the committee put in to be able to report back to the House on this bill in the first week of June. Given the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on work environments and the request for a shorter than usual time frame for consideration initially this required some swift work and I would like to thank all members for that.Given my well-known expectation to be the last Minister for regeneration that Christchurch needs it is crucial that we were in a position to be able to pass this bill prior to the election and I thank the committee for making sure we are in a position to be able to achieve this. The bill will provide certainty for the communities of Christchurch about the rules and the institutions in place to govern regeneration and it will be great for this House to be able to provide that.I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the many people in Christchurch who for over a decade have worked to get us to this point. The quest for local leadership after the devastating earthquakes that began 10 years ago in 2010 is something that has long been wanted on the ground in the city. There are many and numerous people—and I'm not going to even start naming names because I know inevitably I will miss someone off. But I think we and I see members across the House from Christchurch too can think of a number of people who over the years have worked tirelessly for the regeneration and the recovery of our city.This bill recognises the progress made on regeneration providing for earlier removal of provisions no longer considered necessary. And as I'm keen to tell anyone who will listen the work undertaken over the last four years in greater Christchurch has made significant strides on regeneration. In particular if we point to the last 12 months we have seen significant effort to complete a huge amount of work including the approval of the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor Regeneration Plan which provides a greenprint for the future use and development for the red zone land; and the signing of the Global Settlement Agreement which includes decisions on how we transition Christchurch back to local leadership. This means it is possible to propose the amendments in the bill to revoke the section 71 power which provides for an expedited way to make changes for planning documents and to provide for early disestablishment of Regenerate Christchurch which will reduce the number of institutions working on regeneration in Christchurch. It will extend certain land powers required for reconfiguration of land titles in the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor to provide a backstop to ensure the Crown can complete the agreed work prior to the transfer of the land to the council and the removal of the requirement for an annual review of the Act and changes to implement the three major changes noted such as amendments to the regeneration plan process to account for the early disestablishment of Regenerate Christchurch. The time is right to simplify things to help make this transition back to local leadership seamless and efficient. The bill supports this by simplifying the organisations working on regeneration in Christchurch and removing the Crown's extraordinary powers under section 71.The committee report notes that submissions were received from six parties including from local institutions Christchurch City Council Environment Canterbury and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. I thank all the submitters for taking the time to make their submissions. No submitters oppose the amendments proposed with many noting their support for the proposed amendments in particular the removal of the section 71 power and the disestablishment of Regenerate Christchurch. I think this is a reflection of the broad support at a local level for the amendments proposed through the bill and recognition that the changes proposed make sense and will help make greater Christchurch continue on its progress on regeneration. I would like to acknowledge the Opposition for their support on this bill; we have had a history of working together across the House on the overarching legislation around Christchurch over the last decade. And I would like to acknowledge those members from Christchurch who are in the House for this debate for their support for these amendments.I also note that what we are doing today is made possible in part by the work undertaken by Regenerate Christchurch. The board and the staff have undertaken significant projects and reviews over the last four years that have been a tremendous asset to greater Christchurch. I want to thank them for their work—the work that will leave a lasting imprint on the landscape of Christchurch but also the work they have done to disestablish themselves. At a very human level that is something I think we need to thank individuals for.The committee also recommended two amendments to the bill: one to help clarify the definition of the area the exceeded land powers will apply to and the other to insert transitional provisions for any section 71 proposal or plan process under way at the date the process provisions for those are repealed. With regard to the first recommendation—this was suggested to better define the definition of the geographical area of application for the extended land powers—the extended land powers will be available for the Crown's land title reconfiguration work in the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor. It does this by clarifying the land the provisions will apply to by reference to land in the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor in Crown ownership at 1 July 2021 and also provides a map to aid in interpretation. This suggested change does not change the area the extended land powers apply to but rather ensures that it is clear what area is included. The extended land powers ensure the Crown has the time to complete its work to put Christchurch in the best position to continue its regeneration in this area. The other change is to include transitional provisions for any section 71 proposal or plan process under way at the time the relevant provisions in the Act are repealed. While transitional provisions were not originally seen as necessary during the course of the committee's consideration it became clear that clarity on the application of the current provisions to any application under way at the repeal of the relevant provisions would be pragmatic. The provisions included will ensure clarity for any proponent pursuing a proposal or application at the date the relevant provisions were repealed. This will provide certainty around the step in the process that needs to have been reached for a proposal or application to be continued under the current provisions in the Act. So these are very technical descriptions but I want to finish up by thanking the committee for these recommendations which have helped clarify these two matters.This bill is all about the time being right for greater Christchurch to take further progress in the transition back to local leadership of regeneration. Christchurch has shown it is ready able and willing and this bill shows central government's faith that this is the case while also ensuring the Crown has the required ability to complete its work in the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor to support the ongoing regeneration. I commend this bill to the House.