A group wanting to turn damaged land next to the Avon River in Christchurch into a park wants to do a cost/benefit analysis on the plan.
The Avon-Otakaro Network gathered 18,500 signatures in support of the park and presented a petition to Parliament.
Co-chair Evan Smith on Friday addressed a select committee on the benefits of the proposal.
Mr Smith said MPs were enthusiastic, but wanted to know who was going to pay for it.
He said work will now start on finding out how much a park would cost, compared to repairing the land and rebuilding on it.
