Disaster recovery speech

I have been addressing a lot of audiences lately. Unsurprisingly the subject is usually around Earthquake issues and, more recently, Earthquake recovery. I do not have written notes when delivering my speeches. I have, however, been frequently asked for a copy of a speech and so last week when addressing an EMAN seminar on disaster recovery I recorded the presentation. I have attached a typed up copy of that recording for those interested. Have a good read!

 

DISASTER RECOVERY IN CHRISTCHURCH

A speech given to EMAN members in Auckland – June 2012

By Peter Townsend

I don’t do damaged buildings, we are over that.

I am going to talk about the size of the earthquakes and some of the issues we are facing, the Government’s role and then some key learning’s.

It is the key learning’s that I want you to take away this morning because there are some critical issues we faced in Christchurch that are fundamentally important in disaster management and disaster recovery.

I just want to remind you, particularly as most of you are aware, of what went on in Christchurch but it is very hard for people to get their heads around the magnitude of the disaster. There were 1,360 commercial buildings inside our four avenues destroyed. Most recently in the December 23 aftershock, a four year old 12 storey building - the IRD Building in the city the lift well dropped a meter and the building was destroyed, so this is carrying on. We are about two thirds of the way through demolishing those 1,360 buildings.  In addition to those commercial buildings inside the four avenues, 300 commercial buildings outside the four avenues, 15,000 houses destroyed, 40,000 houses with in excess of $100,000 worth of damage, 300,000 claims against EQC because of the multiple issues, 10,500 aftershocks, and 30 of them very significant.  Just to give you an idea of the momentum of building in the recovery, Fletcher Building who have the contract for EQC to repair houses that have been damaged between $10,000 - $100,000 are currently completing 100 homes a day in Christchurch and they are about 15% of the way through the repairs. Just so we can think about where we are going and what we are doing, it will be five years probably before we get our housing stock sorted out and probably 20 – 25 years before we get the commercial part of the city rebuilt and I would say recreated because we are in a situation in downtown Christchurch inside our four avenues, in the core of the CBD where 80% of the commercial buildings have been destroyed. It is about re-creation and it is about long timeframes but I do need to make the point right up front that we don’t as a country and a city stand-a-side while Christchurch is rebuilt, this is a fantastic opportunity for all of us to re-engage and to be part of the rebuild no matter where we are or where we are from............

To read the full speech please click here.

www.cecc.org.nz

Supporting Migrant Staff & their Employers

CECC is actively involved in issues around immigration and settlement support to assist to build capacity post Earthquake

• Projections to 2015 are that at least 12,000 workers from offshore will be required to fill the labour shortages in the trades and construction sectors – this is after exhausting regional and national labour sources
• Whether or not this figure is achievable is unclear, however, it is clear that we will require significant offshore resource to assist with the recovery
• The demographics of the Canterbury workplace are changing, and changing fast. Some savvy companies are actively recruiting offshore and bringing workers in now by the hundreds. Employers will need to develop new skills to manage people across different cultures. These skills may never before have been used by some employers.
• Resources are now available from CECC/Settlement Support to help employers assist newcommers to New Zealand to settle and work in Christchurch.
• To develop new resources that are specific to the Canterbury rebuild, we need to find out what employers need so they can better manage and understand their migrant workforce.

Please take five minutes of your time to help us understand what may be helpful to your business by filling out the survey below.

·       
         https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dENrcnN0SFBnUzktT0V1eXNvY1NsaFE6MQ

Jobs Expo

Clear evidence of the rebuild gathering momentum in Christchurch was on display on Saturday at The Westpac Business and Community hub.

Around 1000 people attended a jobs expo hosted by Fletcher Building to highlight job opportunities in the context of post Earthquake recovery. With expected natural churn and new jobs becoming available, there will be hundreds of positions required to be filled in the wider Fletcher family over the coming months.

I visited the Expo on Saturday morning and I was impressed with the offerings and the high interest being shown by attendees. I suspect this is just the beginning of this sort of job orientated initiative in Christchurch and beyond. It certainly sends a strong message about the size of the task ahead and the opportunities that will be available for both local job seekers and those wanting to come to Christchurch to advance their careers.

http://www.cecc.org.nz/

I hope the CCDU is bold and brave in its vision for the city!

I have been involved in a lot of speaking engagements over the past couple of weeks. There is still a real hunger out there for up-to-date information on the key issues relating to Earthquake recovery. My audiences have been many and varied, but they all share a belief about the positive future of Christchurch. Don’t take too much notice of the surveys that are indicating a high proportion of our citizens are considering leaving town. We all have a big opportunity to be involved in the rebuild, and I suspect you might see people flooding into Christchurch, not out of it - if we can find somewhere for them to live!

With under 60 days to go until the Christchurch Central Development Unit’s release of its blueprint, expectations are building. The release of the blueprint will be another big step along the way.

I hope the CCDU is bold and brave in its vision, that the community embraces it and expresses a strong desire to get on with realising this city's big future.

www.cecc.org.nz

2013 Budget

The 2013 budget is a relatively bland document. Much of the controversial content was announced pre-budget so there were no major surprises. It is good however, to see the increasing emphasis on science and innovation with significant extra funding being made available including the establishment of the Advanced Training Institute, which is important and we hope will be well represented in Christchurch.

Education has received significant attention with some clear signals about some changes and emphasis in the education system. From a Christchurch perspective we have an enormous challenge ahead of us, with about three quarters of a billion dollars worth of damage to schools, while a challenge, this will provide us with an opportunity to change the way we do things with respect to education and to look at a much more integrated education model from a tertiary education perspective again, an emphasis on science and engineering which should play well for the city’s future.

The particular reference in the budget to the importance of rebuilding Christchurch comes as no surprise to Cantabrians. It is essential that the Government continues to support the second city in New Zealand and we are looking forward to a strong Central Government involvement working with Local Government and the Community including the Business Community to optimise the outcomes for the recreation and growth of our community.

This time last year the Government was anticipating the cost of the earthquake in it’s budget announcements to be $15 billion, we know now that the total cost of the seismic events will be well in excess of $30 billion.  That just reinforces the need for the Government to make continuing and strong commitments to the earthquake recovery.  We note that the Government has spent $1.6 billion of the $5.5 billion it allocated to earthquake recovery and it expects to spend the rest by 2014/2015.

We are pleased to see an extra $115 million for CERA. It is really important that CERA and the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU) are strongly resourced to take the city to where it needs to go to. It is also good to see $13 million provided for NGOs to support the community and funding available for further land assessments. The figures quoted in the budget for residential investment are impressive and a little frightening however, the continuing commitment to a strong Central Government presence working constructively within our community to ensure that we get the infrastructure we need, the housing and land issues sorted and the central city developed at a rapid pace can only be encouraging. One of the issues that we will face as we go forward is developing mechanisms to manage unprecedented growth across all aspects of our economy in the context of the rebuild. 

It is disappointing to see no specific reference to the linkage between the rebuild of Christchurch city and the accelerated development of our regional economy. We know the Government has already set aside significant funding for irrigation development and it is important that much of that investment goes into this region. It is also critical that the emphasis on science, engineering and research all fitting into the realm of innovation be captured as much as possible in Canterbury. The earthquakes have presented us with the opportunity to travel in new directions, to work in new collaborative models, to streamline Government functions and to go to places we have never been before. It is going to be important that Christchurch is seen to be a place where new ways of doing things can be experimented with, can be supported and then be cloned across the rest of New Zealand. Christchurch and Canterbury have always had a reputation of doing new brave things and being a good place to conduct pilot projects. We have in this region the opportunity to assist the Government to achieve its’ business growth agenda by re-developing our city and our economy in a way that faces the future. As Dutch Leonard, the Professor of Public Affairs at Harvard University said “as we rebuild Christchurch we must rebuild it to ride the great tailwinds of our time, not the tailwinds of yesterday”.  I hope the direction laid down in the budget with the emphasis on the Christchurch Rebuild and some of the critical elements of our economy such as science and engineering that are important to the whole of New Zealand, can be concentrated on and developed right here at home. That will help all of New Zealand.

www.cecc.org.nz

West Coast Leading Light Business Excellence Awards

Last Friday I attended the West Coast Leading Light Business Excellence Awards. These Awards are driven by Development West Coast and a highly committed group of Sponsors. The Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce is proud to have provided the template for the Awards and on-going assistance and judging input as required.

The Awards Dinner was held at Shanty Town, a magic facility for such an event, guaranteeing a great night on the Coast. Driving  from Christchurch to Greymouth  on a beautiful Autumn day through some of the most spectacular scenery in New Zealand was a great way to  set myself up for a night of positive affirmation and celebration. The finalists and winners on the night were exemplars of South Island Business. There  are examples of  best practice right across the  business spectrum on the Coast and they were certainly on display last Friday.

The Coast is rapidly consolidating its position as a tourism destination, a major contributor to the New Zealand economy through its mining activity and a high performer in the primary sector, particularly dairy. Supporting all of this, are businesses doing wonderful things in engineering, construction, transport, general service and retail. CECC is looking to increase our involvement with our valued members on the West Coast and we are commited to assist them in all aspects of their business.

It was a privilege to be amongst them all last Friday and a reminder that our own Champion Canterbury Awards are now at the entry stage.

If you haven’t enjoyed  the  magic of the West Coast offering for a while, I would strongly recommend a weekend out, to be updated on what a special part of the world it is, with a lot of  very special businesses.

Click here to view the winners of the 2012 West Coast Leading Light Business Excellence Awards.

http://www.cecc.org.nz/

CECC's submission to the City Council’s annual Draft plan and Major Facilities Rebuild.

Below please find a copy of our submission to the City Council’s annual  Draft  plan and Major Facilities Rebuild.

You will note that we are  determined to be constructive and involved on the go forward, but we have raised some issues that we think  need to be addressed. Enjoy the read!

Introduction

The Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce is a membership driven, not for profit organisation representing the interests of approximately 3000 businesses in Christchurch and wider Canterbury.  Its vision is to be the most valued point of contact for business support in Canterbury.  This has never been more important as a consequence of the impact of the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 which have resulted in significant resources being applied to business support both directly and through the joint venture with the Canterbury Development Corporation, Recovery Canterbury.

The earthquakes have significantly changed the focus of the Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and we expect that earthquake related activity will dominate our activities and affairs into the foreseeable future.  In this context we are working closely with central government, local government and various interest groups in the community to ensure that we play our part in the rebuild and recovery of our city and our region.  It is in this context that we are pleased to submit on the Council’s Draft Annual Plan and Major Facilities Rebuild.

We wish to work constructively with Government, CERA, the recently formed Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU), the Christchurch City Council (CCC) and other relevant groups to ensure that we influence and have active input into, the future of our city.

The Employers’ Chamber of Commerce recognises the challenges that the CCC has faced in these unprecedented times.  We have been privy to two briefings by the CCC senior executive and we are most grateful for the open way in which information has been imparted to us.  Our submission is intended to be constructive, not critical, looking forward not backward and provide support and input into some of the critical issues facing the Council, as it goes forward.

Financial Issues

We acknowledge the proposed rates increase of 7.5% and accept that the components of this increase are necessary in the context of the rebuild.  We understand that a rates increase is part of the price we pay in working our way through this disaster.  The increase proposed is tolerable but at the high end of business expectations.

Council Finances

With respect to Council finances, we make the following comment;

• We note that there has, to the best of our knowledge, been no comprehensive risk analysis looking at variations in interest costs, rate take, dividend flows and cost increases.  We think it would be prudent for the Council to do a comprehensive sensitivity and risk analysis on its financial forecast.
• We believe the Council should be looking at alternative funding mechanisms, not just rates and debt to finance recovery.  Associated with this should be a thorough investigation of the potential to sell down assets to fund the rebuild (we note that the CCC is the second largest property owner in New Zealand next to the New Zealand Government).  The Council should also be exploring the possibility of selling down shareholdings in Council Controlled Companies while maintaining effective control to provide cash for repair work, or using the equity in Council controlled companies to act as a lever to attract significant external funding into repair work.
• We note that in the alteration of projected funding requirements, in the context of the LTCCP, there appears to be no allowance for the wants and needs that will inevitably occur over the next 20 years.  Things always change and there needs to be an allowance for that.
• We would like more detail on what has been taken out of the LTCCP to raise the projected $700m of initial funding for the earthquake costs for the next twelve years.  We are not convinced that this is a straight off-set against planned work that would have been on facilities and infrastructures that are now being repaired or rebuilt as a result of the earthquake.

Insurance

We note comments in the Draft Annual Plan with respect to infrastructure and building insurance.  We are concerned that with respect to infrastructure the total LAPP cover of $109M has proven to be woefully inadequate.  We were particularly concerned to read in the LAPP report on Expected Natural Hazard losses April 2010, prepared by Risk Management Partners “The Canterbury region has the largest concentration of asset values for the LAPP fund, due mainly to the assets of Christchurch City Council.  However the earthquake risk is relatively low and is attributed mainly to movement of the Porters-Grey Fault.  If an earthquake occurs on either fault, using estimates from the modelling by the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) and the latest assets values as at December 2009, there is a 50% probability that losses will exceed NZ$25m, a 25% probability that losses will exceed NZ$32m and a 10% probability that they will exceed NZ$44m.  However the likelihood of a large event is extremely low, less than 1 in 1600 years.  The LAPP Fund would be expected to cover 40% of this amount of NZ$10m to NZ$17.6m.”  Regardless of the benefit of hindsight, given what we knew about the earthquake profile of Christchurch prior to September 2010, this basis for providing cover for infrastructure appears to be very suspect.  With damage to infrastructure projected at $1.9b questions do need to be asked!

With respect to insurance cover on buildings we understand the total sum insured of all Council owned buildings was $1.85b.  We further understand that this was a valuation based on full replacement insurance building by building.  Our analysis, which is confirmed by the Council’s own reporting, would indicate that these replacement insurance figures are grossly inadequate.  The Council gives the example of the Convention Centre having an insurance valuation of around $30m and like for like (full replacement) cost of $60m.  In examining the schedule of Council owned buildings, we believe that such undervaluation is common.  We believe that this is a lesson not only for the CCC but for all local government.  It appears that valuations are grossly understated.  This obviously has major ramifications for the Council’s ability to replace and repair building assets.  Further investigation is required in this area.  In future we would suggest that Quantity Surveyors be involved in assessing the valuation of buildings for insurance, to give a more accurate full replacement sum insured figure.

Not Business as Usual

It is our impression that a lot of Council activity is continuing as “business as usual”.  We believe it is urgent and timely that the Council have a critical look at how it is doing its business, including a full review of Council processes, functions and staffing.  We want the Council to have a close look at its property portfolio, as the second largest property owner in New Zealand, how it services the community and how it can better use technology rather than physical assets to interface with city residents.  We would like to think, that as we recreate Christchurch, it can be the smartest city in the world with the intelligent use of technology in communication, transport, construction, amenities and Council systems.

Major Community Facilities

We note that the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU) is going to have significant input into the prioritisation and placement of major community facilities.  We know that the CCDU intends to work with the CCC to determine the best way forward and the Employers’ Chamber of Commerce looks forward to staying close to that process. 

In addition to identifying priorities, locations and functions of major community facilities, we believe that it is beholden upon Council and the CCDU to investigate which projects are essential versus “nice to have”.  We also believe that there is more work required in terms of innovative funding mechanisms for major projects.  We believe that it would be useful, rather than to restrain the projects by current funding mechanisms and projections, to look at what the city wants then how best it can meet the funding requirements to achieve its objectives.  More lateral thinking is required here.

We look forward to being part of this on-going consideration and we recognise that certainty is required with respect to major community facilities, sooner rather than later, to encourage capital to land in our city.

Conclusion

The Employers' Chamber is fully aware of the price that we have had to pay to endure the largest natural disaster in New Zealand.  We are however also cognizant of the opportunities that will arise through a well constructed, well organised, holistic recovery/rebuild programme.

Christchurch City and the greater Christchurch area have the opportunity to develop into the most forward facing iconic small city in Australasia.  This will be achieved through central government, local government and the community, including the business community, working closer together towards common agreed objectives as aggressively as is possible.

This will require some big and hard calls and there will be winners and losers in the process.  However we understand that that is a price worth paying as we work through the recovery process, in the interests of the greater Christchurch community.  We also recognise that done right, we will lock growth into this city for the next 20 years.  That is important for us all.

We thank you for giving us the opportunity to submit and we advise that we would like to speak to our submission.

On behalf of the Board of the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce

Peter R Townsend