Groups lobby for heritage funds, despite no imminent cash

Wednesday, 11 March 2026

Heritage funding campaigns on social media and bus stops.

Energetic campaigns have been launched in Christchurch lobbying for extra ratepayer heritage spending, despite very little prospect of cash for at least a year.

At the same time, there also seems to be confusion at the Christchurch City Council about when any more money could be available.

Three organisations - Canterbury Museum, the Christchurch Arts Centre, and Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd (CCRL) - have all launched a charm offensive encouraging the public to make submissions to council over heritage spending on their quake-damaged buildings.

The campaigns run from social media posts to bus stop signs.

As part of finalising its annual plan (2026-27 budget), the city council is consulting on a range of topics through its Kōrero mai/Let’s Talk webpage or by paper submission.

However, any extra heritage funding would be part of council’s long-term plan (10-year budget) taking effect from mid-2027, rather than in the upcoming budget where no money for it is set aside.

The council’s draft annual plan says more heritage funding is “a significant level of investment, and decisions of this scale sit appropriately in the long-term process.”

Canterbury Museum says its bus billboards are funded by an anonymous donor.

“We need to ensure that we are clear that the level of funding required could not be considered in an annual plan due to the large value and the impact,” the council’s general manager for citizens and community, Andrew Rutledge, told The Press.

Despite this, mayor Phil Mauger said he thinks heritage funding this year is possible, and would like the Government to also contribute.

“God knows where we’d get it from - I have no idea because we want to keep rates as low as we can.”

The size of the heritage funding means it cannot be included in this year’s budget, the council’s Andrew Rutledge says.

This year’s proposed rates rise is 7.96%.

The council’s heritage submission question asks the public to rank their level of support for more council funding for four sites as a whole - the cathedral, museum, the Arts Centre and the Provincial Council Chambers. All but the Anglican cathedral are publicly owned.

Canterbury Museum is advertising on social media and bus shelters, saying ‘Stand Up for Your Museum - Together We Can Do It’, with a red and black logo highlighting the words ‘you’, ‘us’ and ‘we“.

A page on the Arts Centre page seeking council funding support.

Museum director Anthony Wright said benefactors who wish to remain anonymous are exclusively funding the campaign.

The museum is also running behind-the-scenes tours of exhibits stored off-site, three years ago after it closed for a major redevelopment. It is now half-way through the $261.9 million project, on which is it $91m short.

“To complete this project and ensure we can reopen our doors in mid-2029, we require a commitment of extra capital from the Christchurch City Council,” the campaign says.

“We need that commitment now so that we can complete the project’s construction phase.”

CCRL, the non-profit company restoring the cathedral, is running a campaign called ‘Speak Up - Help Reopen Christ Church Cathedral’.

“If you want to reopen the Cathedral and unlock the Square, now is the time to speak up,” it says.

The Student Union (former Dux de Lux) building at the Christchurch Arts Centre.

The company is now focused on persuading the city council to plug a $40m to $45m funding gap to complete the first stage of work, after deciding a partial reinstatement could be done for $180m to $185m.

The company is also running events such as displays inside the mothballed cathedral, with a maximum of 50 people allowed in at a time.

The Arts Centre is using the Student Union (former Dux de Lux) building as a drawcard for its campaign.

Part of Christchurch’s Canterbury Provincial Chambers complex.

It is promising to restore and reopen the category two heritage building if it can get the$10m cost of the work.

It has signed an agreement with brewer and hospitality operator Cassels and Sons Brewery, which would lease and reopen the building as a brew bar.

“Want to see the Dux building open again?” the campaign says, adding the new bar could be in business in two years.

“If, like us, you are excited by getting a live music and hospitality venue back in a restored Student Union soon, tell the council.”

The Arts Centre’s other un-repaired buildings are those in the engineering block, which are category one listed and expected to cost $60m to reopen.

No campaign appears to be running for the Canterbury Provincial Chambers. The Durham St buildings have not reopened since the earthquakes, but have been fenced off pending repair funding being available.

The Arts Centre, after restoring 80% of its buildings, now gets $500,000 a year from the council towards maintenance costs.

Canterbury Museum is funded by four councils, with Christchurch paying the lion’s share of both its rebuilding and operational costs.

Christ Church Cathedral is using a combination of insurance money from the Anglican diocese, city council and central Government cash, and public donations.

A city council spokesperson said it is too early to provide information on the number, tone, or themes of submissions before consultation on the annual plan, including the heritage funding in the long-term plan, closes on March 27.