Better communication urged for quake victims

Earthquake recovery agencies have been told at a meeting in Christchurch they need to communicate better with the public.

The message came at a quake briefing at the Christchurch Art Gallery where leaders of the recovery briefed elected officials on repair and rebuilding work.

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said not all the jibes about lack of communication were fair, but many had to be taken on board.

''For council and others there have been some home truths which are never comfortable.''

Waimakariri MP Clayton Cosgrove said many agencies had a flawed approach to public relations.

''There is a feeling in the room that the community doesn't get it, I think they do. I think you need to treat the community like they're smart. The community wants to know when milestones are happening.''

He said better use needed to be made of community networks, starting with community boards, to keep people informed.

CanCERN spokeswoman Leanne Curtis said people with damaged homes just wanted more information.

''Don't presume you know what people want to hear and you know what's best for us. It may just challenge the way you think and move forward.''

She said quake victims were prepared to wait longer to get what they wanted, as long as they were kept informed of when work would happen.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee acknowledged a lot of quake victims' distress was down to lack of clarity on when rebuild work would start.

He said land remediation reports being made public would ease uncertainty.

"On the issue of a big plan, it's been hard up to this point. Once remediation starts that becomes a little easier."

Earthquake Commission (EQC) chief executive Ian Simpson said remediation information should be available in April.

Concerns were also raised about the likelihood of getting heating appliances installed in every house that needed one.

Simpson admitted the May 1 goal to have the 9000 most urgent cases completed was amibitious.

''We will get as many of those jobs done as we possibly can before it starts to get cold.''

EQC fast tracked the assessment all chimney related earthquake claims to be prepared for the job.

Smiths City Group chairman Craig Boyce said he had grave concerns about how all the work would be done before winter.

''I think the maximum that's been put in in one year in the past was 4000. It's not going to happen.''

''If so, someone's got to talk about the number of heating appliances that can be imported.''

Parker agreed supply chains for heating appliances, such as heat pumps, was a concern.

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''That's something we need to get more clarity on.''

Earlier, Brownlee rejected the idea of a 'quake Tsar' to oversee Canterbury's rebuild process.

The Minister fielded a number of questions about an overarching plan for all agencies involved in the rebuild to work under.

"To be able to say here is a master plan would be great but you would have to set aside a lot of Christchurch City Council responsibilities and trample all over things the CCC is doing," he said.

"The last Tsar got shot."