Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel and Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee at a press conference about the future of the city's recovery agency.

Christchurch's once-bold central city recovery plan is hanging in the balance with Treasury saying it now appears unachievable.

But Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has dismissed the Treasury report, released on Monday, calling it "utter tripe".

He says the findings show the "arrogant bureaucratic attitude" the Wellington-based department has towards Christchurch.

GEORGINA STYLIANOU/FAIRFAX NZ The future of the Christchurch convention centre remains uncertain.

The timeline of the recovery plan, which includes all anchor projects, including the convention centre and metro sports facility, has been steadily falling behind since it was unveiled in 2012.

Finance Minister Bill English released two reports into the Government's investment practices and performance of its major investment projects.

His accompanying media release made no mention of the issues delaying the delivery of Christchurch's anchor projects.

The report, entitled Managing Government Investment Projects, was the first of its kind, and said the "overall viability" of the anchor projects might need to be reassessed.

In an index of monitored projects, the Christchurch Central Delivery Programme, which involved a "timely and effective delivery" of Government-led anchor projects, was given a red rating.

"Successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable," the rating's description said.

A red rating implied there were "major issues" with project definition, budget and benefits.

"At this stage [the issues] do not appear to be manageable or resolvable. The project may need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed," the report said.

The central city blueprint, led by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera), was the only Government-monitored investment project to receive a fully red rating.

It said "significant effort is required" to ensure successful project delivery.

"This could include re‑planning, re-scoping or additional funding."

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Brownlee had not been shown the report before it was released and would "most definitely" be talking to English.

"[The report] has been produced by book-keepers," he said.

"They should spend more time book-keeping rather than trying to second-guess the Government's strategy."

He said anchor projects were well underway and expected a "positive announcement" regarding the seemingly stalled convention centre in the near future.

Brownlee said the central city blueprint did not need reassessing and said project delays were to ensure taxpayer money was well spent.

"[The report] is entirely disrespectful…and funding for the projects is largely in place."

City councillor Paul Lonsdale said he was concerned and surprised to hear such major problems, as outlined in the Treasury report, were only being publicised almost five years on from the February 2011 earthquake.

"You really would think this is the sort of stuff . . . economic viability and scope . . . that would have been sorted out.

"We can not afford to have any more delays with projects like the convention centre."

The completion date of the project was unknown, but Cera shut down rumours the agreement was dead in the water.

Lonsdale said the anchor projects, and the cost sharing agreement signed by the Christchurch City Council and the Crown, were intended to provide certainty and trigger private sector investment.

"The private sector has decided to crack on in some cases, even though these anchor projects are slow to get out of the ground, but there's a large chunk of investors who won't do anything until [projects] are under way."

Labour's acting Canterbury spokeswoman, Ruth Dyson, said the report was "literally a big red flag for our region".

"Of all the Government projects, we're the only region to get this terrible result.

"This will be a big blow to people trying to promote investment and say that everything is going well because it's clearly not."

Cantabrians urgently needed to know whether the "Treasury warning" was incorrect or whether the Government was going to "sit up and smell the roses", Dyson said.

The residential red zone programme was given an amber-red rating. By the report's own definitions, this meant successful delivery of the project was in doubt and "urgent action" was needed to determine whether a resolution could be found.

The programme was described as governing and coordinating the acquisition and management of land in the residential red zones.

Christchurch's new justice and emergency services precinct, being led by the Ministry of Justice, was given an amber-green rating. Successful delivery was probable but "constant attention" was needed to make sure risks did not become major issues, the report said.

The horizontal infrastructure programme – funded by both the Crown and Christchurch City Council – also received an amber-green rating.

The Treasury report said being transparent about the status of projects, and the challenges facing them, was essential to improving the success of major projects.

"The earlier sponsors, stakeholders and others know about possible challenges, the more options they have for resolving these. The level of complexity with government projects means that many will face a series of challenges – early knowledge of these improves government's ability to respond actively, and to deliver projects successfully."

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel could not immediately be reached for comment.