Quake: Emergency laws to rebuild Canty

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Colombo Street.

The Manchester Courts building on the corner of Manchester and hereford streets.

A Dallington park.

Avonside Drive.

Avonside Drive.

Victoria Street.

Cranford Street.

Victoria Street.

Cranford Street.

Cranford Street.

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The City council-owned Shoreham Courts in New Brighton are being evacuated against the wishes of some residents. Pictured is Lorraine Burrows, centre left, her son, Jamie, 8, left, Charllisa Sutton-Taylor and Oceana Rawiri at right.

Aerial footage of Christchurch post quake

Last call at The Valley Inn

LAWRENCE SMITH

LEADERS MEET: Prime Minister John Key and Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker in Christchurch today.

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Prime Minister John Key has confirmed special emergency legislation will be passed, setting up a new commission to help Canterbury rebuild.

Key is back in the region today, a week since a magnitude 7.1 earthquake wreaked havoc in Canterbury.

After a tour of the Christchurch waste-water plant, Key said the Government wanted to reach agreement with other parties and pass legislation next week.

"While there is a state of emergency in place, the civil defence act overrides all of the other legislation that's in place, but when we take that off, that's no longer the case," Key said.

"We want to have a position where we seamlessly transition from the emergency civil defence legislation through to the new empowering legislation for Canterbury."

The legislation would create something like a commission covering the three worst-hit districts. The commission would "make decisions that allow the city to be rebuilt as quickly as possible and with the least inconvenience to the residents of Canterbury."

The state of emergency is set to stay in place until next Wednesday but could be pushed back further still if the legislation stalled.

But Key said the Government was keen to lift the state of emergency as soon as possible.

"You don't want to leave a civil emergency tag on a region forever - there are connotations and implications of that," he said.

FAMILY EVICTED FROM WELFARE CENTRE

A family of 30 has been kicked out of one of Christchurch's welfare centres, prompting police to warn opportunists to stay away.

District Commander superintendent Dave Cliff said the family was evicted from the Addington welfare centre after they refused to leave in spite of their homes being deemed secure.

Police said it was important to ensure the welfare centres were not being abused to ensure they are able to provide support to those genuinely in need.

"What we don't want is for people to expect to use the welfare centres as a more comfortable place to stay than their own homes"

PATROLS TO 'SATURATE' EASTSIDE

Combined army and police patrols will be deployed to "saturate" Christchurch's quake-hit eastern suburbs and deter opportunist crime.

The eastern suburbs have been the worst hit in Christchurch and many homes are standing empty or are in need of repair.

Police have announced an extra 40 staff will work 24 hours a day in the area in a "sea" of high-visibility vests.

Police spokesman Andrew McAlley said the four-man patrols would circulate in the suburbs going door-to-door.

They would deter opportunist crime but also provide a sense of reassurance to the public in those suburbs.

There have been reports of sporadic burglaries and opportunists posing as tradesmen.

McAlley said police were getting feed-back that the public liked the "reassuring nature of having so many people around".

QUARTER OF CITY BUILDINGS DAMAGED

A quarter of buildings in Christchurch's central city have been found to be damaged or totally inaccessible.

A Christchurch City Council spokeswoman said this morning that 5.7 per cent of the 958 buildings assessed in the city had been red-stickered.

A red sticker is not a demolition order but means people should not enter or occupy the building because it has been determined unsafe.

A further 20 per cent have been issued a yellow, limited-access sticker and further structural assessment is needed.

Of the 2290 homes checked, just over one in eight have either a red or yellow sticker.

The council said the Addington Welfare Centre housed 208 people on Friday night and the Linwood Welfare Centre housed 58 people.

Police this morning reported a relatively quiet night after the main cordon was lifted around central Christchurch last night for the first time since last Saturday's 7.1 magnitude quake.

Power has been restored to most homes in the city but Orion was asking that people who still do not have power call them on 363 9898.

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