Woods MeganCHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL REINSTATEMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration): I move That the Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Bill be now read a second time.Tonight we are moving a bill that will fast track the reinstatement of the Canterbury Cathedral and deliver progress on an issue that after years of frustration and delay we can finally see some progress on. This is a milestone in Canterbury's recovery and an important symbol of progress in our city. The devastating earthquakes of February 2011 delivered a significant amount of damage to Christ Church Cathedral. This was of course nothing new for the cathedral in terms of earthquake damage. Damage to the building and especially the spire has occurred on many occasions: 1881 1888 1901 1922 and of course September 2010 but the damage that the February earthquake delivered to the church caused significant damage to that building.For many people Christ Church Cathedral is the core symbol of Christchurch. It sits at the heart of our city both geographically and culturally. The city was literally designed around it in 1850 so the origins of the cathedral do date back to the very plans of the Canterbury Association which had an aim to build a city around a cathedral and a college in a square. The college it was found after time couldn't be accommodated in the square and was later moved on to land designated for Hagley Park but at the centre of what was then called Ridley Square it was decided that a cathedral was what the city was going to be built around. Ridley of course was named after Bishop Nicholas Ridley who was a martyr of Oxford of 1550 and who was joined by two other martyrs his co-martyrs Cranmer and Latimer whose names also bear squares in Canterbury. This was later called Cathedral Square and is very much part of our history.But it's not only our 19th century Canterbury Association and the formation of the city history that the cathedral sits at the centre of. Throughout the 20th and the 21st centuries this has continued to be an important cultural site for people in Christchurch. In 1974 the Wizard arrived in Christchurch and began to stand on a ladder outside the cathedral. Council attempted to have him arrested in 1974 but he survived and can still be seen in Cathedral Square today. That is a significant amount of time. He arrived the year after I was born; so it's not hard for me to do the sums on the number of years he's been speaking.Since the earthquake the damaged cathedral has lain unoccupied in our square and it has come to stand in the public mind as a symbol of the slow pace of the recovery a sign of all that we have lost. This bill begins to set right and will provide a much-needed injection of momentum and energy into the rebuild and recovery of our central city.I want to thank everybody who took part in the select committee process. The bill has in my view been greatly improved by the feedback of submitters and members of that committee. Thank you. And I especially want to thank Deborah Russell who chaired the Environment Committee. It was the first piece of legislation that she chaired through a committee and I think she did a wonderful job—so thank you.There's also a number of other people who I acknowledged in my first reading speech but I would like to mention them again: the bishop Victoria Matthews and members of the synod; Jim Anderton and Philip Burdon; the mayor; and the former Ministers Gerry Brownlee and Nicky Wagner. I think this has been a good example of collaborative cross-party work which has allowed us to get to this point. I thank you for the work you did as Minister and then your cooperation as a member of the committee.The bill as it stands now will give huge confidence to people in Christchurch—that there is a clear and practical plan for kickstarting the restoration of the cathedral and ensuring that the heart of our city is once again a vibrant and exciting place. This will give more people the confidence needed to develop live work and play in the heart of our city.The Environment Committee has recommended that the bill proceed with a few amendments. We support all the changes recommended by the committee. The changes to provide greater clarity to the purpose clause and around the definition of reinstatement" are positive and will provide clear guidance to ensure this work is done in the best possible manner.It is also pleasing that the bill will now fully recognise the Cathedral Working Group's recommendation report as a key document underpinning the process of reinstatement in the bill itself. A huge amount of work and negotiation went into that report and I think all the groups involved in this process have a very high degree of confidence in it. Giving greater recognition ensures that we're on the right path and I think it will further boost confidence in the process. It is also recognition that this legislation builds on a great deal of work that has been going on in the city from that working group report and the Miriam Dean report that have allowed us to get to this point.The Environment Committee has also recommended that the time frames in clause 8 be reduced to 15 working days. As the development of orders will be a consultative and iterative process with potential for engagement to be repeated if there are significant changes to the orders it is important that the deciding Minister is able to undertake appropriate engagement without slowing the momentum of the reinstatement project. It's also pleasing to see a faster time line on the process that reflects the wider need for speed and energy to complete the project.Clause 22 as reported back sets out that an application for review relating to an Order in Council under the Judicial Review Procedure Act 2016 must be made within 28 days. The committee has recommended that the 28-day time frame begin from the date of publication of the reasons for recommending that the relevant order be made. That clarity has been provided by the committee and I think that is a useful addition to the legislation. This ensures that any individuals wishing to make an application make their decision with all necessary information available to them.The committee has also recommended clarifying that only specified entities—those being the joint venture or another entity managing the reinstatement of the cathedral—and the review panel are able to propose that the Minister recommend the making of an order. To make sure that there is clarity around that is an important change that has been made. It's a sensible amendment and will provide a clear framework for the development of orders which will allow for the reinstatement of the cathedral.The final change that I wish to mention is the committee's recommendation to add additional Acts to schedule 2. We thank the committee for carefully considering the recommendation of the Church Property Trustees Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and the Christchurch City Council in recommending additional Acts for schedule 2. This will ensure the Act is fit for purpose and able to manage any issues that may arise during the reinstatement.I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the submitters who submitted in a very close time frame and made very meaningful submissions that have allowed us to improve this legislation. In particular I'd like to thank the Church Property Trustees the Great Christchurch Buildings Trust the Christchurch City Council and other heritage and legal experts for providing their expertise and their opinion to aid the Environment Committee's consideration with these ambitious time frames.This is an extraordinary piece of legislation for an extraordinary set of circumstances. For seven years Cantabrians have had a broken building at the heart of their city. There is now a strong desire in the city for us to mend that broken centre of our city to move on to provide the energy required to get our city moving to be all that it can be. This is an important step that we are making here tonight with furthering this legislation. I thank everybody for their involvement and I am happy to commend this bill to the House."