Quake decisions coming too slowly - poll

Eight months on from a devastating earthquake in Christchurch, a new poll suggests nearly half of all residents think decisions are coming far too slowly.

"In terms of land zoning and valuing homes in the red zone, the feeling is not even remotely positive," Canterbury University researcher Kris Vavasour said.

"[Earthquake Recovery Minister] Gerry Brownlee may well have been handed a poisoned chalice with his role – there is not a lot of positivity surrounding that issue, or the way it has been handled by the Government."

A Fairfax Media-Research International poll released yesterday suggested 48 per cent of Canterbury residents thought the speed of decision making for most individuals and home owners had been far too slow. Some 31 per cent of those polled strongly agreed that decisions were too slow. A similar number, 27.5 per cent, felt strongly that decisions for business in the region had been too slow.

Mr Vavasour, who has done research and canvassing of his own on communication after the quakes, said he felt National would suffer a backlash from anyone living in an electorate where there were red zones.

Mr Brownlee had been described by some he had surveyed as "rude, scornful, insensitive and unhelpful." And Christchurch mayor Bob Parker seemed to be "either admired or hated" – described as both a "show pony" and an "amazing speaker".

Mr Brownlee said the Government and home owners would not have wanted rushed decisions. "Otherwise, I think you sell people short. I know it's difficult, it's incredibly difficult, but in an international sense, I don't think there is any slowness around that."

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority chief executive Roger Sutton said people were impatient for action but also wanted the right decisions. In the year to June, 10,600 more people left Christchurch than arrived, contributing to a 2.4 per cent dip in population. Mr Sutton and Mr Brownlee said predictions that the local economy would grind to a halt had proven incorrect.

Mr Sutton said he was at a loss to explain what decisions could have been made faster. "There are some land issues for a relatively small number of businesses, but there has been large programmes to support businesses, there has been subsidies for wages ..."

Mr Brownlee said the local economy grew at 1.9 per cent in the June quarter, when predictions were that it would "go to bits" after the quakes. "Yes, it's frustrating for some businesses, but I don't think we've seen the kind of carnage that many people predicted and some people hoped for, quite frankly."

The poll also found 54.5 per cent felt they had ample opportunity to contribute to the planning process for the new CBD.

And 60 per cent believed the speed of the demolition and rebuild of the city centre had been as fast as could be expected.

The Fairfax poll of 130 Canterbury voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 8 per cent and included 115 people directly affected by the quakes.

The poll was conducted between October 27 to 31.

- Fairfax NZ