Extra $301m to redevelop Christchurch’s quake-damaged schools

An extra $301 million has been added to the Christchurch schools rebuild project, increasing the cost to $1.6 billion.

More than 100 schools were damaged during the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, with 23 having to be rebuilt.

The 10-year project to redevelop 115 schools was due to be finished this year, but delays have meant it is now expected to be completed in 2025.

But Christine O’Neill, principal of Christchurch Girls’ High School, was doubtful their work would have started by then as her school’s master plan had yet to be finalised.

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Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was in Christchurch on Friday to announce the extra funding, which is comparable to the Government’s post-quake investment for the city centre or the Scott Base rebuild in Antarctica.

“As education minister I have had the absolute privilege of seeing new schools open, built from scratch or restored around Christchurch over the past five years,” Hipkins said.

“I’m pleased to be back in Christchurch … to see further progress and to announce additional funding to complete all 115 of these significant school projects.”

Hipkins was at Merivale’s Heaton Normal Intermediate School – one of 27 quake-damaged schools currently under construction – to announce the final phase of the project.

Asked why the additional funding was needed, he said “a lot happens in a ten-year period”.

“During that time we’ve clearly seen quite a significant cost escalation in the building and construction sector,” he said.

“We didn’t want to leave these schools short-changed so where we’ve needed to we have increased the budget, so we can deliver what they were promised.”

Without the extra cash, the Government “would have had to scale-back the work that’s being done” and “some schools would have had to wait longer”.

“In a process like this, not ever school gets absolutely everything that they want, but we’re confident that the money we’ve allocated now will deliver what we committed to, which is to make sure that they have up to date, fit for purpose learning environments.”

In 2013, the National Government announced 115 schools would be replaced or repaired: 13 new schools would be constructed, 10 rebuilt on existing sites, 34 given major redevelopments and 58 moderate redevelopments.

In October 2016, a Treasury report said the rebuild was on schedule and all schools’ projects were on budget, with “some tenders even coming in under budget”.

But by 2017 the project hit delays and it was reported that only 10% of the repairs had been completed.

The project was picked up by the Labour and New Zealand First coalition government and a midpoint review in 2018 found the $1.13b budget was short by $150m to $300m, and it was boosted to $1.38b.

Although many schools were finished on time, others fell behind. Work at Christchurch Girls’ High was halted in April 2019. The work should have been finished by mid-2020.

“There’s no way our rebuild will be finished in two years,” O’Neill said after hearing Hipkins’ announcement on Friday.

She said work had slowed in the last six months and she doubted construction would have started, “let alone finished by 2025”.

Covid-19 cause further delays. According to the original 2013 schedule, 95 schools should have been completed by the end of 2020, but by mid-October that year only 56 (58.9%) were finished.

Among the finished projects are the joint Avonside Girls’ High and Shirley Boys’ High site in New Brighton and the new Te Aratai College (formerly Linwood College), which opened in May 2022.

However, other schools have been left languishing. In October 2020, Stuff reported on Redwood Primary School which had rotting walls, broken heat pumps and outdated classrooms as staff waited years for the redevelopment to begin.

As of February 22, 2023:

• 81 (70.4%) schools had been completed.

• 27 (23.4%) were in construction.

• 5 (4.3%) were in the planning and design stage.

• 2 (1.7) had yet to enter the programme. They are Chisnallwood Intermediate and Ko Taku Reo (Van Asch Deaf Education Centre).

The remaining schools in the programme are expected to be completed in the next two years.

“I know this additional funding will give certainty to the remaining schools in the programme, 27 of which are in construction already,” Hipkins said.