Editorial: Fleeing Govt depts vote of no confidence in the CBD

OPINION: Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee resorted to one of the Government's overused phrases when he justified the flight of the Inland Revenue Department and the Ministry of Social Development to the Airport Business Park.

It was, he said, not the shift of front-line services – as if that made the long-term loss of 500 central-city jobs trifling.

It is not. It amounts to the evacuation of about one-quarter of the public-service jobs that were in the central business district before February 22, last year. The loss of so many people working downtown is a blow to Christchurch' renaissance.

The date for the rehabitation of the CBD draws closer and developers are therefore estimating the profit in rebuilding in the area. Their calculation is simple: Will enough people be working there to fill new buildings?

Developers are unlikely to answer no to that question solely on the basis of the loss of the 500 jobs, particularly as Brownlee says some Government departments will return to the CBD, but it will make them think harder and be less confident in their calculations.

That has already been articulated by Ernest Duval, a property developer, who says Government departments are blue-chip tenants and their presence in the central city is essential and the loss of Social Development and Inland Revenue will not help.

All developers will regard the loss of the public servants as producing one more doubt about the wisdom of rebuilding in the CBD – doubt already substantial because of looming high insurance costs and uncertainty about how the new planning regulations will be a hobble. If these doubts scuttled the creation of new office and retail space, the consequences would be severe.

The small businesses that depend on workers – cafes, lunch bars, pharmacies, bookstores, fast-food outlets – would find it hard to re-establish themselves because their traditional clientele would no longer be present. Even larger enterprises, such as clothing shops and supermarkets, would find it hard to operate, and the planned transport exchange would be far less effective in rationalising the city's public transport system.

That is a worst-case scenario, because, even with the loss of the 500 public servants, developers are unlikely to turn their backs on the central city.

It is bound to be resettled by a substantial number of companies and their office workers because of the convenience and ambience it will offer.

Proximity to other offices will be useful, even in an age of electronic communications, public transport will be on offer almost at the doorstep and accommodation will be first class.

Life in the CBD will also be lively, with cafes and shops and and concentrations of people providing a zip and zing unknown in the tilt-slab industrial parks.

All that was overlooked in the days immediately after February 22. The talk was about the parking convenience and safe habitation at the outer encampments. But over the months, opinion has changed. Many people now regard themselves as working in a semi-industrial wasteland, with no public transport and far from their homes. Memories of the advantages of working in the old central city are pleasant and strong.

That wish to return will grow stronger as the new central Christchurch takes shape. The actual rebuilding has its own attractions, and its results should be stunning. A city renewed but with visual reminders of its old self, welcoming to people, safe, vibrant – that is what the plans promise and can produce.

Such a green and pleasant city heartland will attract business and their workers, and developers will respond with new buildings.

The trouble with that vision is that it is so far little more than a vision. It needs, particularly at this uncertain stage, a vote of confidence of the sort made by Ballantynes in holding its ground. Christchurch's most successful retailer – part of the core brand of this city – never publicly wavered from its commitment to stay downtown. It has already reopened and is attracting the crowds. In being so stalwart, Ballantynes gives confidence to other business to return. It passed a vote of confidence in central Christchurch, something the fleeing Government has failed to do.

- © Fairfax NZ News