ChristchurchNZ staff resigning, 'highly unsettled' by council inaction

Thursday, 29 May 2025

ChristchurchNZ chairperson Lauren Quaintance said the “highly unsettling” uncertainty from the council had led to staff resignations - only three of eight positions were filled.

Progress has stalled and staff have resigned from Christchurch’s economic development agency amidst “highly unsettling” levels of uncertainty within its urban development team.

In a letter to Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger, dated January 28 and released to The Press under official information laws, ChristchurchNZ board chair Lauren Quaintance warned the council’s lack of direction and inaction was stopping the agency from doing its job and using ratepayer funding efficiently.

The matter was “urgent”, she said, but the council is yet to address it and city councillors only received a copy of the letter on Monday.

ChristchurchNZ’s urban development work has included finding developers for the former City Care site on Milton St, which will be developed into housing. (File photo)

The letter closely followed the council’s launch of a Section 17a review into how the council funds and delivers economic development - something directly impacting the publicly funded ChristchurchNZ.

The review would assess whether work was being doubled up between the two organisations (an independent review in 2024 did not identify areas of duplication in the urban development space).

The council has its own urban regeneration unit, but in 2021 it decided to give ChristchurchNZ an urban development function and $20m worth of land and cash previously attached to Development Christchurch Ltd - a separate entity which the council decided to fold into ChristchurchNZ.

New Brighton residents are aware of the eerie silence at the mall but hold the glimmer of hope torch high for the eagerly awaited revamp.

ChristchurchNZ got started on the work - attracting $82m of urban development investment in 2021-22, according to its annual report, including housing in New Brighton - but four years on was yet to see the cash, and was waiting on the council to agree on future projects.

These delays, the council’s lack of direction and failure to execute service level agreements meant ChristchurchNZ could not meet the council’s expectations, according to Quaintance’s letter.

She said the “highly unsettling” uncertainty had led to staff resignations - only three of eight positions were filled - and stopped them from entering good faith negotiations with the private sector.

“… we believe these matters are urgent and cannot wait [for the review]” she said.

“[The situation] in present state represents an ineffective use of ratepayer funding.”

The urban development team had also been involved in attracting developers for the former New Brighton School site. The site has been reimagined as Seaview Villas by the Modus Group.

She said if the council wanted to take over urban development work (it already has an urban regeneration unit), then the council could just say so, and they would help hand it over.

Despite the urgency and a follow up on March 20, ChristchurchNZ’s request for more information by March 30 came and went.

The hint of an issue was made public at a councillor workshop on April 30, when Cr Celeste Donovan said she and other councillors had been made aware of a letter but repeated requests to see it had gone unanswered.

Cr Sara Templeton said councillors received a copy on Monday - a day before The Press received it under the official information act - estimating it had been nearly three months since they first asked.

“It’s disappointing that we have not had a chance to discuss this as a council before it is made public, in spite of repeated requests,” she said.

After reading the letter, she saw no reason why it could not have been discussed among councillors already - even in a public excluded meeting - considering the urgency.

Quaintance told The Press despite their efforts, there was still no agreement, and this meant the organisation could not deliver “expected outcomes”.

The Press received a copy of the letter 20 working days after it was requested, with a council staff member contesting “certain suggestions”.

The council was never expected to provide a defined pipeline of work for ChristchurchNZ’s urban development team, the staff member said, referring to a document which said the two organisations should work together on that.

Quaintance said ChristchurchNZ had attempted to identify projects but had not been able to get the council to agree to them.

The mayor was asked why he did not share the letter with colleagues sooner. Council chief executive Mary Richardson responded, saying a councillor requested a copy of the letter on April 29 (Templeton said it was requested much earlier) and ChristchurchNZ asked for time to first advise staff of it being released.

Richardson said they agreed to wait until the week of May 19, but it was delayed “due to circumstances”.