NZ Concrete Industry Conference

Friday 29 September 2006

Good Morning. I am pleased to welcome you to Christchurch the garden city. Spring is a great time of year to visit.

Concrete is the most used construction material in the world and, it can be amazinly durable. Witness to that is the Pantheon temple in Rome erected about two-thousand years ago and still in good condition.

The city recognises the economic benefits of a robust construction and concrete industry. As a part of the Mayors for Jobs group I am also aware of the need to encourage young people to take up trade training. So much so, that for the last 2 years we had held a graduation ceremony for trade trainee graduates to celebrate their success and acknowledge the value of their skills to the city.

In Christchurch builders did not start using concrete until the 1930’s. The materials on hand were wood, brickss and stone from the Halswell Quarry. Today the stands of local trees have long gone and Halswell Quarry is now one of the city’s newest and most spectacular parks.

Modern Christchurch has some fine examples of buildings of reinforced concrete and modern construction materials and methods. The WestpacTrust Centre, and the Art Gallery to name two. We don’t have anything as radical as the 800 meter Burj, Dubai, which you will be learning about during your conference. However, there is one very important building to finish, which is Jade Stadium, the home of the best rugby team in New Zealand, the mighty Crusaders. I see Rob Fisher is down to talk to you about the challenges of preparing for the 2011 World Cup. Our planning is well under way for this event.

Christchurch has joined with two outlying unitary authorities to look closely at future development for the area. The Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy has already consulted widely on what, where, and how people want to live. Initial consultation has shown that residents do not want to see another snarl up like Auckland.

If there is to be no urban sprawl it must mean denser housing and more apartment blocks and redeveloped heritage buildings. What I would like to see are 30,000 more people living in a re-vitalised inner city. They won’t come unless it is an attractive area to live and the buildings are sound proof and warm. Concrete will provide much of the building material, it has thermal qualities, it reduces noise transmission and is durable and with good design can be very attractive.

A new Civic building is being planned. It will be an environmentally sustainable building with features like solar heating, rainwater collection and resuse and open plan workstations all within 12 m of natural light. The favoured concept is for a 14 storey tower built on a three storey podium that could provide public areas such as customer service. This will be a building that in a hundred years will have a heritage order and one of the signature buildings in the city.

Congratulations on the excellent line up of speakers I know that you will find them inspiring and at the same time you will be able to network amongst yourselves. I now declare the conference officially open. I hope that your conference will be fruitful and that you enjoy your stay in our city.