Six and a half years ago I walked along Kilmore Street on the edge of Christchurch’s CBD until I reached Gloucester. I knew when I turned left into Colombo Street, it would be confronting. 

It was late in the day, February 22nd, 2011. 

The quake had hit just before one and after a chaotic few hours, TV3 flew us into Timaru and we drove to Christchurch from there, arriving in time for me to host Nightline, the late news programme. 

The first images of the Christchurch Cathedral had already been broadcast. It looked horrendous. Some of my earliest childhood memories were wrapped up in that building. I remember always being overwhelmed by its size and grandness when I was young, and later singing hymns as a Brownie and Girl Guide at Christmas. 

I’d reached the end of Gloucester Street and I turned left into Colombo, and looked up. And there it was in front of me. Cathedral Square and the shattered Cathedral. I still remember my reaction. My hand flew over my mouth and in that moment, when I saw the rubble and the shattered steeple of that once beautiful building, I realised the sheer force of what had occurred underground. I don't think that image will ever leave me. 

And since that day, I’ve been to Cathedral Square many times. I've twice run the Christchurch Marathon, running into the Square in that final and tortuous 42nd kilometre. There she stands. Or slumps, really. The beaten up Cathedral. Surrounded by a make-shift wire fence. Redundant. Overgrown. And a memorial to the great tragedy that occurred that day. I've always considered the Cathedral to be the heart of Christchurch, but it's a broken heart. 

And so six and a half years on we’re still trying to work out what to do. There are three options now. Rebuild it but there’s a shortfall of about $10-15m or more and so a fundraising trust would have to raise more money. Knock it down and start again but retain some of the features and materials from the original. The Church says that would cost $42m. The Government reckons it’s more like $80m.  Or the Church could gift the Cathedral to the Government and they could reinstate it and manage it on behalf of the people of New Zealand. 

In the past I wanted it to be completely rebuilt. Now I don’t. Now I think a new Cathedral that retains some of it’s old features would be a great option. And I’m not adverse to the Government taking it on too. It’s hard to hold a Church accountable. It’s quite easy to ride the Government to get a move on. 

But what is central to this and what is often lost is the symbolic importance of the Cathedral to Christchurch. The city, now, can seem like a ghost town. It needs to attract people back into its heart...shopping, living, eating out, partying, whatever. It just needs people. And at the moment, Cathedral Square standards like a memorial to the pain and anguish and anxiety and loss that this great city suffered. The Cathedral keeps it stuck in time. It’s still 12.51pm on February 22nd, 2011. 

And as long as the Cathedral sits there surrounded by rubble and weeds, it’s a reminder of the horrors of that day. If you're a Cantabrian, why would you go into the city? Why would you want such a confronting reminder of the day the earth shook so violently? 

Great cities have a pulse. A vibrant, healthy beating heart. And if the Synod ever wanted to do God's work, it's now. It should do whatever it can to by-pass the politics and the procrastination and the wrangling. Christchurch and its people have suffered enough. It's time to make a definitive decision and move on it.