Case Study 4.1: Christchurch Central City Plan Consultation

Case Study 4.1 Christchurch Central City Plan Consultation

After the devastation of the Canterbury earthquakes, the Government and the Christchurch City Council turned their attention to how to rebuild the city. To shape this future, the council developed a draft recovery plan (Central City Recovery Plan) for the central business district (CBD), as required by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011. While heritage was only one of the topics addressed in the plan, there are valuable lessons from the consultation process that could be applied to consultation and engagement on heritage issues more specifically.

Seeking input from a public that was more mobilised than it had been for some time and simultaneously traumatised by the events that had occurred, the council encouraged broad, meaningful consultation to gather a range of ideas on the future of the central city through the ‘Share an Idea’ campaign. This process was seen as a ‘conversation’ with the community, allowing the public to tell the council their ideas about how the CBD should be redeveloped to be a great place again. It started with a Community Expo in May 2011 and ran for six weeks, in which anyone could input their ideas for the future of the central city. At the end of the process the more than 106,000 ideas were brought together to inform the draft Central City Plan.

The process was recognised locally and internationally for its success in encouraging participation and enthusiasm and inspiring people to generate and share new ideas. On a smaller scale, this type of constructive, open-ended consultation, where the community is encouraged to think creatively, could be easily replicated to motivate and challenge people to think about heritage buildings, areas and town centres.

Christchurch Central City Plan Consultation.

PHOTO CREDIT: CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL