PM believes Chch cathedral should be replaced

The Prime Minister's standing firm in his belief ChristChurch Cathedral should be replaced by a new one.

A report conducted by an independent group of structural engineers suggests the damaged building can be made safe and restored.

PDF: Report on how to save ChristChurch Cathedral

John Key says it's a tragedy what's happened to one of our most iconic buildings, but says plans to rebuild and have a new cathedral are the right plans.

"We need to agree on what it looks like but in the end we need to replace that cathedral with another one."

Acting Dean of ChristChurch Cathedral, Lynda Patterson says the report is not a surprise to them, with the safe haven option already being rejected by her group.

"But we do need to talk further about this, I'm not an engineer, I'm just a priest. I want to say it was helpful to see the report, and helpful to have it explained.

"It's only eight pages long, and there's substantially more work which needs to be done on it before we could even get to the point of costing it."

Ms Patterson says the trust wants to see their monument back exactly as it was, but that's at odds with her cathedral group.

"And I understand that we've lost so much of the city, but our concern as a cathedral is for the mission and ministry that we undertake - for what we do in the building, not what the building looks like from the outside."

Ms Patterson expects a lot of conversation over the coming weeks.

Photo: NZ Herald