The river corridor is probably the largest area of managed retreat in an urban centre worldwide. How can our experience inform processes of managed retreat elsewhere? The question is central to this project, which has developed a model of ‘retreat’, ‘relocation’ and ‘re-imagining’. Re-imagining asks how can the land be re-used for projects that further lower environmental and social risks.
Governance
The Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor Regeneration Plan was approved by the Minister in 2019, but with only a general outline of an implementation pathway. In the foreword to the draft plan (released in 2018), the Chair of Regenerate Christchurch drew attention to the need to consider governance, financing and land ownership.
In the approved plan the following year, this had been re-worded to ‘As implementation planning commences we must look to what needs to be done to ensure Christchurch has the people, economy and leadership to ensure both this Plan, and the wider aspirations for the city, become reality’ (page 6) (Figure 1.)
Figure 1- Cover of the Ōtākaro Avon River Regeneration Plan
Some background to the absence of recommendations concerning governance, finance and land ownership can be found in the Oral Histories project on this site, specifically in the interviews with Rob Kerr, Lianne Dalziel, Chrissie Williams and Megan Woods.
Figure 2- Cover of the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor Governance Case Studies
Governance workshops
In late 2018, some responsibility for exploring governance options was taken by the University of Canterbury as a self-described honest broker without personal interest in the red zone. In May 2019, Eric Pawson organised a governance workshop on campus, addressed by Lianne Dalziel as Mayor, Te Maire Tau as Upoko, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, with a range of informed local speakers. The programme is available here.
One outcome of this workshop was a ‘blue book’ of case studies of a range of local governance arrangements for specific projects in Aotearoa, assembled by Eric Pawson, with Rob Kerr, Philippa Mein Smith and Chrissie Williams. This blue book is reproduced here (Figure 2). It is prefaced with a series of recommendations, the first of which is:
A second outcome was a protracted but ultimately fruitful follow-up process. The Independent Chair
of Te Tira Kāhikuhiku, Chrissie Williams, self-authored a co-governance proposal, available here. After discussions led by the Mayor, Lianne Dalziel, a workshop was arranged by the city council in December 2021 to discuss co-governance options. This was addressed by a former Minister of Treaty Negotiations, Christopher Finlayson. His summary of advice to the Mayor is available here.
Co-governance entity
The 2021 workshop was rapidly followed by a City Council resolution to establish a co-governance entity in early 2022. Its membership, purpose and functions are outlined here. The co-governance establishment committee produced an assessment framework for projects in the river corridor in 2023, here (Figure 3). This is a clear guide to the principles it has identified for future uses. There are interviews with two members of the entity, Lianne Dalziel and Hayley Guglietta, in the Oral Histories project on this site. Interviews with other interested parties, including Chrissie Williams, are also there.
Long term plans for co-governance were agreed by Council in February 2025, following
recommendations from the co-governance
Figure 3- Cover of Assessment Framework
transitional group. It may be some years before a permanent entity is in place, as this will be consulted on during the 2027 Long Term Plan hearings. An interim committee will be established in the meantime, but without community voice. This decision drew immediate criticism from red zone community groups.