House demolition not needed, say Port Hills residents

1:29 pm on 19 October 2012

A group of Christchurch residents battling to stay in earthquake-damaged homes has told councillors it can save the taxpayer $7.5 million.

The Port Hills residents have had their homes zoned red because of the danger of rock fall, but want them re-zoned green.

They argue stabilising the rocks will be more cost effective than demolishing the houses.

The group presented Christchurch City Council with a proposal to mitigate the danger which they say would save the Government $290,000 per property.

Resident Tony Ging says he is disturbed that people are being forced out of their homes when the majority of the rock fall danger comes from council-owned land.

He says the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority has completely mismanaged the process.