(Almost) rebuilding Kaiapoi

On the 4th September 2010 Canterbury was rocked by a massive 7.1 magnitude earthquake that started a sequence of earthquakes in the region that still continue. Due to the underlying estuarine soils, the coastal town of Kaiapoi, along with two neighbouring settlements, was affected by very severe liquefaction and lateral spread, with approximately one third of the town’s water and roading infrastructure made inoperable and over 1,200 homes damaged; many uninhabitable. The Waimakariri District Council provided a leadership role in the rebuild of not only this infrastructure, but also in delivery of the land repair programme, co-ordination and sequencing of the house rebuild and an intensive community support and engagement programme. Although this work was curtailed by the government’s decision to purchase the severely affected properties, the experiences and approach taken offers lessons for other disaster recoveries and how the delivery of the public and private parts of the rebuild can be integrated with community support and engagement, and used as tool to assist the community through the recovery.