The Cathedral Square ‘wasteland’ holding Christchurch back

Friday, 21 November 2025

The former Chief Post Office in Cathedral Square was working towards being opened as a hospitality and tourist complex for five year, but the project ended in liquidation and has remained untenanted since late last year.

A cathedral in ruins, an empty heritage building and the food trucks, bar one, gone.

More than a year after plans for hospitality precinct The Grand in the Post Office building failed spectacularly, its owner, Gordon Chamberlain, is still on the hunt for new tenants.

The Grand ended in liquidation in September last year following five years of businessman Darin Rainbird working on the project.

Cathedral Square had become a “wasteland”, Chamberlain said.

Despite having some interested parties following the failure of The Grand, the Square was “not attracting people in its present untidy state with the mothballed Cathedral construction sheds in the middle”.

Former Christchurch City Councillor James Gough says Christchurch is “fabulous” but “just don’t look at the Square”.

“The Square is presently a wasteland, it needs activities there to bring people.”

Former city councillor James Gough said Christchurch was “fabulous”, but it was let down by the Square.

Gough, now The Terrace executive director, said residents were “so lucky to call Christchurch home, but there’s an asterisk there: just don’t look at the Square”.

Bringing the Square back to its former glory was dependant on the Cathedral, he said.

Lucky Ninja food truck owner Hiromi Nezu is the last food truck in Cathedral Square standing strong through a decade of serving builders, office workers and visitors.

“Unfortunately, that’s held the regeneration of the Square to ransom.”

It would take work from “multiple parties”, including local government and Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Limited (CCRL), he said.

The Cathedral should be opened up to people - “that’s really essential”.

People in need have been occupying the Square as businesses abandon the area. (file photo)

The Christchurch City Council is expected to decide before Christmas if it will include extra funding for the cathedral’s reinstatement in next year’s draft annual plan.

Chamberlain continues to pay hefty bills on the Post Office building, including insurance and rates - the amount of which he would not disclose.

“Rates are expensive and very annoying considering the council is not providing any of the services that rates are for… services like water that’s provided to a functioning building. I’m not getting any services presently for the payments I’m making.”

A visitor centre or i-Site was key to attracting businesses and people back to the Square he said, “this then flows through to other hospitality venues capitalising on the visitors being there”.

“The Post Office clock tower is still attracting photo-takers, unfortunately I need a tenant before the clock can function again. It’s been repaired, and it’s ready to go.”

But in the “wasteland”, one lone food truck continues to operate.

Lucky Ninja food truck owner Hiromi Nezu has been the only business to stand strong in the area that once defined Christchurch, setting up her burger, chips and Japanese food stall in 2015.

Nezu is kept busy during a lunch rush, serving about 70 meals a day and only opening during fine weather.

As labourers rebuilt the city, Nezu wanted to be “part of that too”, she said.

“I wanted to help out, to serve the builders.”

She serves up to 70 meals a day.

Sabry’s Souvlaki is returning to the Square late November, taking the food truck count to two.

Originally from the outskirts of Hiroshima, Japan, Nezu is no stranger to belonging to a city destroyed and rebuilt.

When she and her husband first launched the food truck in Cathedral Square, it was a hive of activity with new builds in the process. The Friday Night Food Markets made the area “so bright”, she said.

However, as events left and Christchurch Cathedral remained a wreck, only office workers, tourists and “dodgy people” lingered.

The key to reinvigorating the Square was a rebuilt cathedral, souvenir shops and “things to bring people to the area”, Nezu said.

The former glory of the Square before the Canterbury earthquakes prompted a rebuild that has left some anchor buildings surrounding inactivity and desertion.

Christchurch City Council head of facilities and property Bruce Rendall said up to six food vendors once traded in the Square on a daily basis and around 30 at the former Friday Night Food Markets.

The reduction in food trucks aligned with ongoing construction and renewal activities in and around Cathedral Square, he said.

“These projects are important long-term investments in the future of the Square, but they have temporarily created a less favourable trading environment for some operators.”

He said once the major works around the Square progressed and the space became more accessible and appealing for visitors, “there may be renewed opportunities to welcome additional vendors”.

Meanwhile, Rendall said Lucky Ninja can look forward to company later this month.

“We are expecting Sabry’s Souvlaki to return to Cathedral Square shortly, once their newly upgraded van is ready for service.”