Millions of dollars of taxpayers' money earmarked for the restoration of Christ Church Cathedral may not be handed over if the project is shelved.
Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd, the charity managing the reconstruction, received $3 million from the council in December last year, with a further $7 million due on August 1.
But if the restoration of the iconic church is halted, the city government can keep the $7 million grant.
In April, CCRL announced that the cost of restoring the cathedral had increased from $160 million to $248 million. CCRL said unless $30 million can be found by August 31, reconstruction could be put on hold.
At a workshop on the Long Term Plan last week, councilor Sara Templeton said the 2017 council resolution to contribute to the cathedral's restoration stated that the money should be used for reconstruction.
“The money cannot be used for a stopped process, because that is not reconstruction.”
John Filsell, the council's head of community support and partnerships, said the $7 million would only be paid out if it was spent on the capital costs of the restoration.
Council staff are investigating the terms of the 2017 resolution and the City Council will discuss it before August.
– By Geoff Sloan, created with the support of NZ On Air