This has flown below the radar and may well be the result of the rest of the country tiring of Christchurch and its plight.
But that doesn't mean there aren't things happening that we shouldn't be aware of and worried about especially given were footing the bill.
So a bunch of houses have been found that have had foundation repairs that aren't up to scratch. They were found in an audit.
In theory, EQC who are in charge of all this will have contracted the job to Fletcher who will have subbed the job out to a tradie.
They presumably will have signed off the work... Now the problem of course is going to be who takes responsibility?
It's very leaky homes... Leaky homes were built leaky... But signed off by councils... And look at the fight that ensues.
What makes Christchurch worse is this is a city and a project that you would not have thought in your wildest dreams they would be sloppy with.
Yes there is a lot of work and yes there is a lot of pressure on to get that work done.
But if you're going to have a system... Do it properly!
How is it possible that work is contracted out to cowboys?
How is it possible that that cowboy work is then signed off by Fletchers... Or was it signed off... Was it possible because of the size of the overall rebuild things weren't actually
signed off?
Where are the checks and the balances?
Well the checks and the balances are obviously in the audits... Earlier this year the ministry this is Gerry Brownlee's ministry had 2300 homes that had structural repairs without building consent.
How ironic is that given one of the greatest tragedies out of the quake was of course the
CTV collapse... That had no building sign off.
How is it a city that was found wanting in terms of ticking boxes... Still four years on isn't ticking boxes.
And then of course we come to the bill.
The cost so far is billions and it's getting bigger.
Major projects are slowing and behind schedule and surely it is not unreasonable to expect that the work done shouldn't be getting done twice because it wasn't done properly in the first place.
Next question is how far up the chain do you go?
Does the subby get sacked from future work
Does Fletchers if it's their sign off... Pay a penalty and the repair bill?
Does EQC need a wrap for not being all over Fletchers like a rash or is it reasonable to expect Fletchers to have done their job?
And can Gerry say... By the time you get to his desk he's been let down by everyone from the tradie up.
Or can you suggest that given it's our money and he's overseeing the expenditure of our money he's a bit loose round the edges?
The money aside... Christchurch remains a national issue with a massive investment from us all.
For the goodwill to stay in tack we need to have confidence that this whole thing is being well handled.
And from here it doesn't look like it.
