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Photo / Dean Purcell.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says he has no desire to "bring out the bulldozers and take Christchurch to the ground", but he does want to return the city to normal as soon as possible.

At a media briefing on Saturday, Mr Brownlee said if he had his way, most of Christchurch's heritage buildings would be bowled the next day - prompting concerns that demolitions would be rushed through.

On Radio New Zealand this morning, Mr Brownlee said Christchurch had 1600 buildings rated somewhere between category 1 and category 4 heritage buildings.

He said a number of those buildings should "realistically" have been demolished after the September 4 quake but that he believed heritage orders preventing their destruction had been "far too precious".

Should earthquake-damaged heritage buildings be demolished ASAP? Here is the latest selection of Your Views:

1. your views
2. Robyn says
   "Gerry Brownlee seems keen to just bowl everything over, which makes me question whether he is a true Cantabrian. Can you imagine Christchurch without the Cathedral, the Arts Centre or the Museum?"
3. GrumpyWeePom says
   "The problem with 'heritage' buildings is that over time you end up accumulating them like clutter around your house. Take this as an opportunity for a spring clean."
4. comments

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