Port Hills residents vent concerns

Around 80 recently red zoned Port Hills residents have vented their concerns at a public meeting.

They met with CERA and Christchurch City Council representatives last night.

A number of issues were raised, including the possibility of rock fall protection measures, and whether they'd be eligible to have their zone reassessed, like those on the flat.

City Councillor Yani Johansen was at the meeting, and understands the frustrations these residents are experiencing.

"I have to say it's incredibly disheartening to continually come to these meetings and hear that no decision's been made on the offer, no decision's been made on the appeal process. We're waiting for Cabinet and Government to sign it off. This issue has been around for almost a year and a half."

The head of CERA says they canâ t give every resident in Christchurch the outcome they want.

Roger Sutton fronted up at the public meeting in Sumner last night where the angry Port Hills residents demanded answers after finding out they were among 121 properties which went red on Friday.

Five have been zoned green, while 37 remain white until the middle of September.

Mr Sutton says millions and millions of dollars has been spent on engineers assessing the risk of rock falls on the Port Hills, and despite all that work he knows not everyone will be happy.

"For some people, the level of risk we're saying is acceptable is completely unacceptable. For other people, they think we're being a bunch of pansies, and they're happy to go and climb Mt Cook every weekend and we're being far too risk-averse."

CERA is holding another public meeting tomorrow night for the remaining 37 white zoned Port Hills properties.

Photo: NZ Herald