Mayor Bob Parker describes details of the council's proposed plan to rebuild the central city.

Christchurch City councillors have this morning adopted a landmark draft plan for the rebuild of the quake-hit central city and will open it for public consultation.

The plan is expected to cost about $2 billion and take 20 years.

Light rail, a smaller central business district (CBD), a new swimming centre and specialised precincts are among features of the draft plan adopted by council today before being released for public consultation on Tuesday.

Kirk Hargreaves IDEAS GALORE: More than 100,000 ideas for the rebuild of Christchurch were submitted by the public at the Share an Idea expo in May.

>> Click here to see the plan

Full details of the plan, including reaction from key figures and graphics explaining the concepts and proposed timeline, will be in The Press newspaper tomorrow.

The plan, prepared by the Christchurch City Council, does not include any geotechnical information about the state of the land.

KIRK HARGREAVES IDEAS GALORE: More than 100,000 ideas for the rebuild of Christchurch were submitted by the public at the Share an Idea expo in May.

However, engineering consultants Tonkin & Taylor have said that the central city is generally safe for rebuilding.

The draft plan also proposes an $8 million memorial to those who died in February's earthquake, which would be a "space", rather than an "object". The site is yet to be decided

It also says a purpose-built museum and research institute will be built, called the Earthquake Preparedness and Information Centre.

Joseph Johnson Mayor Bob Parker explains his vision for the future of light rail in Christchurch

A light rail public transport system is proposed to link the central city with outlying suburbs.

The first stage would connect the city centre to Canterbury University, while future links are proposed for the airport and suburban areas, including Hornby, Northlands and New Brighton.

However, buses would remain the main form of public transport within the four avenues.

The plan also proposes limiting buildings in the central city "core" to six or seven storeys - a maximum of 29 metres.

Fringe areas would be limited to 21m (four or five levels), while buildings on the edge of the city would be limited to 17m (four levels).

The height plans would create an "iconic city", with buildings that had a consistent density, respected heritage and connected well to streets.

PRECINCTS

A cultural precinct, based around the Arts Centre, would be one of 11 areas where similar or compatible activities would be clustered.

Entertainment precincts, including the Lichfield lanes area, are proposed to have relaxed noise-level restrictions. There is also a proposal for an international area south of Lichfield St.

A shopping precinct south of the Cathedral Square would have arcades and narrow pedestrian-oriented lanes and courtyards.

A new aquatic facility would be built on the site of the former Red Bus depot near AMI Stadium and form the heart of a sports precinct.

The draft plan also includes a new convention centre to replace the current centre.

AVON RIVER

The Avon River is likely to play a more prominent role in the central city, after residents and experts expressed concerns about how it had been used.

The river will have a 30-metre setback on each side, allowing the council to develop a green belt for pedestrians and cyclists. Cycleways are also proposed through the city.

Other ideas include offering free parking in council parking buildings and creating a covered market, which could cater for some small businesses who lost their low-rent buildings in the earthquake.

The city would be sustained in the short and medium term by using more temporary buildings in empty sections throughout the city.

Development would be based largely in the northern, northwestern and northeastern areas of the central city.

Financial incentives would be offered to businesses that chose to move into the central city. Other incentives would be given to buildings with strong environmental and urban design features.

FIVE THEMED CHAPTERS

The central city plan has more than 70 projects to be implemented over the next 10 to 20 years.

It has five chapters, based on five themes which emerged from the Share an Idea expo in May: Green city, Market city, City life, Distinctive city and Transport choice.

In summary they say:

Green city: Avon Park, Cathedral Square, pocket parks, green design, roof gardens.

Distinctive city: Low rise, smaller core, new lane networks, precincts, incentives for good urban design.

Transport choice: Light rail, new ring road, new cycleways, slow streets.

New amenities: metro sports facility including an acquatic centre, earthquake memorial, earthquake preparedness institute, new central library, convention centre, a new central city playground, a performance and rehearsal space, a professional theatre and an arts and creative industries complex.

CAR-CENTRIC CITY NEEDED CHANGE

Speaking to media outside the Christchurch Art Gallery at lunchtime, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said the scale of destruction caused by the February 22 earthquake literally meant a rebuild of the CBD.

Big issues around the world, such as climate change, brought additional pressure to the plan, and the city needed to become a leader in sustainability.

"We recognise that the car-centric city we had become needed some change."

The plan proposes changing all the inner-city one-way streets into two-way routes.

Parker said the biggest contributor to the plan was the Share An Idea expo, which brought 106,000 ideas for the city's future.

It was an "inspirational" project of public consultation, Parker said.

He outlined some of the key ideas that came from the public during that process, including the need for more green spaces and the desire to become a "more iconic place" and create "a more human-scale environment."

Despite Tonkin & Taylor saying the CBD was safe to rebuild on, it was recognised that land around the Avon River was more unstable and the draft plan suggested "pulling back" from the river.

The other big move for the city would be towards more low-rise buildings.

PLAN DEDICATED TO DEAD AND INJURED

Parker said the plan was still in the draft stage, but it was important to show central government that the council could take responsibility for Christchurch.

"I'm kind of excited about it all. It's not the end of the job by any means, it's a really strong starting point.

"What we're looking for [now] is constructive criticism."

Earlier he said today was signficant for the city after three months of intensive work.

He said the draft plan was dedicated to those who lost their lives or were injured in February's earthquake with inspiration from Share An Idea.

The council did not want to diminish what people in the city's eastern suburbs were still going through, said Parker. He recognised the toll the quakes continued to take on the city, but said Christchurch had to focus on the future.

The plan needed to have a balance between people's aspirations for the city and the need to have people invest in the city.

"Nothing happens if you don't have a city that people feel they can invest in."

The plan needed to work for business people, while also respecting the past and providing a long-term view of the future.

TOP 10 CHANGES

The top 10 changes identified are:

1. Avon River: the banks will be widened to create a riverfront park with boardwalks and pedestrian and cycle friendly areas

2. Compact CBD: shops and offices will be encourage to be in a smaller, concentrated area bounded by Lichfield, Manchester and Kilmore streets and the Avon River

3. Light rail: to link the central city and key attractions with the university, Lyttelton, Rolleston and Rangiora

4. Metro sports hub: an aquatic centre, indoor stadium, health and fitness centre, and elite performance and training facilities

5. Christchurch Hospital: establish a health precinct with a redeveloped hospital to attract a range of health and medical businesses and research and training institutes

6. Cathedral Square: create a greener civic and cultural hub for people to visit, picnic, or simply linger

7. Central Library: a new central library to be built

8. Transport choice: making the city easier to get to and about by making it safer and more pleasant to walk, cycle, use public transport, or drive and park

9. Convention Centre: a new world-class centre

10. Neighbourhood Parks: a network of parks and gardens spread throughout the central city.

TIMELINE

The suggested timeline shows the transformation of Christchurch will take many years.

The first project to get underway would be to create a green corridor along the Avon River with work to start in 2013.

By 2016, a new metro sports complex, central library and convention centre would open.

The following year would see the greening of Cathedral Square take place and the hospital redevelopment get underway.

It would be 2018 before the first light rail link would be complete offering a link from the city centre to Canterbury University.

The proposal to change all the inner city one-way roads into two-way streets would take years with the first to switch being Salisbury, Kilmore, Montreal, Durham, St Asaph and Lichfield Street by 2015.

Madras and Barbadoes Streets would become two-way routes by 2020.

A museum, education and research centre focused on earthquakes - the Earthquake Preparedness and Information (EPI) Centre - would not be finished until 2022.

WHERE TO FROM HERE

A mail drop of the plan to every Christchurch households will take place on August 20.

The consultation period will include a two-week roadshow in early September.

The council will hold hearings on written submissions in October, before a final version of the plan is presented to the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority for approval in December.



Read our rolling coverage from this morning's council meeting at the Beckenham Service Centre:

11.29am: All councillors have agreed to adopt the draft Central City Plan for consultation.

11.26am: Parker thanked the Earthquake Recovery Minister for his supportive comments yesterday.

"This plan does not belong to any political grouping [or] business grouping. This belongs to everybody in this city and it's everybody in this city that we're honouring today.

"If we are apart we will fail, so let us all embrace it together. Be big-hearted, be big-minded, see the big picture and drive this process together."

11.24am: Deputy Mayor Ngaire Button said she never felt a sense of hopelessness about the task of developing a new central city plan for Christchurch, and said it had been a privilege to be part of the team working on it.

"We're making history.

"I won't be here in 50 years, but my children and my grandchildren will be interviewed about this."

Button told Parker it had been "an honour" to be his deputy, during both the planning process and through the earthquakes.

11.20am: Councillor Claudia Reid said she loved the Share An Idea expo a few months ago, where people from different backgrounds shared a "vision of hope" for Christchurch.

"When I read this document in its completeness yesterday ... I was very moved by it, because for me ... it is transforming despair into hope."

She hoped she would be able to live as long in the new Christchurch as she had in the old one.

"Because I think this is filled with hope and with promise."

The earthquake had a silver-lining, in that Christchurch now had an opportunity to become a better place, she said.

11.16am: Councillor Aaron Keown said he was not happy to support the plan, he was "proud".

He became a councillor because he had spent years criticising the organisation, and he was "incredibly proud" to be part of the team to present this plan.

"Canterbury for a long time has been known as the place that feeds the world .. that's about to change, because Canterbury is going to be known as the place that fixes the world."

Canterbury could develop an earthquake-proofing industry that would be something the rest of the world would look to us for, he said.

11.13am: Councillor Glenn Livingstone said: "This is a new city we're proposing."

The plan would see the removal of school zones, which was a "radical" change for Christchurch.

The mark of a progressive city was in its plan for its poor, and he looked forward to the plan's provision for better social housing, which would provide the city with more warm and dry homes.

11.12am: Councillor Jamie Gough said there were some "metaphorical cracks in Christchurch" before the earthquake.

Christchurch now had an opportunity to become a better place, "because of that horrible incident that happened with those earthquakes".

It was an exciting time to be a councillor and a resident in Christchurch, and it was important for Christchurch people to be involved in the planning process, he said.

11.10am: Councillor Barry Corbett said the central city plan would create a city that would keep his grandchildren in Christchurch, as well as attracting new people to the area.

"There are some things that I'm missing from it, but overall I'm feeling incredibly positive."

11.05am: Councillor Helen Broughton extended thanks to the mayor and council staff for their work on the plan.

The Avon River Park was the key aspect of the plan that stood out for her, and would be "stunning" for the city.

However, she did not agree with the plan's view on limited or reduced car parking and believed car parking buildings were "essential if we want the central city to thrive".

"I believe people in the short to medium term will not shop in the central city if they can't park there."

The challenge was to raise the number of shoppers in the central city, meaning the council would need to have a careful look at car parking for shoppers in the city, she said.

"[We live] in the real world, not in some utopian city," she said.

11.01am: Councillor Yani Johanson said it was an exciting time for the city, but he was disappointed about the delayed release of the draft.

The plan raised several challenges, including how money was spent, and it was important the rest of the process was conducted in a transparent and open way, he said.

He looked forward to hearing the public's opinion on a number of key issues in the plan, such as height restrictions for buildings.

"This is a unique opportunity for our city to have a unique, sustainable and more dynamic city."

10.59am: Councillor Sally Buck said she was also happy to support the draft plan.

"Today is about sending the plan back to the public to hear what they say."

The plan was more than roads, and looked at libraries, playgrounds, and "making the city more people-friendly", she said.

"That to me is where I think the staff and everybody have listened to the people of Christchurch."

10.56am: Councillor Sue Wells said the plan "doesn't start from ground zero".

"It says we love what we've got, we want to make it better."

She wanted the public to know that the council "still wanted to hear their voice".

Public hearings would be held in October, giving the public further opportunity to have their say after the official public consultation period ends on September 16.

10.53am: Councillor Jimmy Chen said he was "more than happy" to support the draft plan and described the collaborative process as a "masterpiece".

10.52am: Councillor Tim Carter said he intended to support the plan.

This was despite his concerns over some of the details, including how the traffic plan would work. But Carter said it was now up to the wider community to "delve into the details of this plan".

He asked councillors and council staff to have an "open mind" and be prepared to make changes.

10.50am: Councillor Chrissie Williams said the plan "really reflects" the 106,000 ideas that came through the 'Share An Idea' project and subsequent workshops.

She had some issues with "little things" in the plan, but said it was not the time to bring those up.

"Probably the most important thing is how we prioritise projects in the plan."

She urged Christchurch people to stay engaged in the process and hoped the public consultation period would give people an opportunity to "be creative".

"We will listen and we will refine this plan following submissions."

10.45am: Parker thanked council staff who had put in a "massive" amount of work and time to get the draft plan together.

"You've just done an extraordinary job, and I'm very, very proud."

Parker acknowledged the amount of stress Christchurch people had been under since the September and February earthquakes, but asked people to focus now on reconstructing the city.

"We've had enough distraction to fill our hearts for generations. This piece of work is about all of us grasping our futures, believing in what we can together do.

"None of us will get everything we want, but together we will have a future."

10.40am "It's about a safe, sustainable, high-tech, low-rise city in a garden," Mayor Bob Parker said.

Over 100,000 ideas were submitted through the Share An Idea project.

Parker said every single one of those ideas had been read and contributed to today's draft plan.

The council aimed to present the finished central city plan to the Government and Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee about December 20, "because we figure he'll want something to read over his Christmas break".

Every councillor has bought their own ideas, based on their individual backgrounds and interests, to the plan, Parker said.

For example, Glenn Livingstone, chair of the housing committee, was passionate about incorporating social housing into the plan. Claudia Reid brought a passion for arts, while Chrissie Williams brought a passion for transport and cycling and Helen Broughton contributed her passion for heritage.

The plan has two parts - one being the "easy-to-read, accessible" vision for the city and the other being "how" the plan is put into action.

10.34am Parker said the draft was a work in progress and small changes were likely before the plan was printed and public consultation began.

The draft will go out for public consultation between August 16 and September 16.

"As we've all known this is a moment we've all anticipated for some time," Parker said.

He began the meeting by saying "today is about remembering the people we lost on the 22nd of February".

Today was about the "pledge" made to those people to "build a better city".

"This plan is for them and this plan is for the extraordinary, brave people of Christchurch."



THE DRAFT PLAN

>> Click here for a PDF of the plan