Backing the Future
Christchurch is a niche city that can boast infrastructural assets normally associated with larger cities. Over years the city has invested prudently to create a very liveable city which is also a great place to do business.
First world energy, telecommunications, urban design and transport strengthened by the only 24/7 international airport in Australasia combine with a desire to invest in the future. The foundations for this forward-thinking attitude were laid in 1850 when the city was developed as a planned community with an English heritage.
Placing that English foresight into a land peopled by our tangata whenua (indigenous people of the region), Ngai Tahu, (pronounced Nai Tahu) has melded the city and region into a unique urban bi-cultural environment within a natural landscape sweeping from coast to mountains.
As a globally-connected city, Christchurch is able to export around the world using advanced technology via the city investment in Enable Networks, the University of Canterbury’s Blue Fern Supercomputer and next generation ICT research investment.
Unique Investment Vehicle
Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (CCHL) is the vehicle that demonstrates the city’s commitment to intergenerational investments in key areas that strengthen our competitiveness, at all times retaining a strong sustainability ethos.
CCHL is moving towards playing a more proactive role in supporting the city council's aim of making Christchurch a "world-class boutique city" by investing in, or promoting the establishment of, key infrastructure assets in a commercially viable manner. Areas such as high speed telecommunications, water, security of energy supply and integrated transport have been identified as key regional infrastructure priorities, and CCHL is examining these to ascertain whether there are gaps that cannot be filled by the private sector or existing council operations. The company intends to take a role in filling these gaps, whether by joint ventures, public/private partnerships or by acting as a catalyst for investment by others.
The Christchurch City Council’s investment in CCHL and its subsidiary companies was independently valued at just over $1 billion in June 2006. International credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s recently affirmed CCHL’s credit rating at AA+, making CCHL one of the highest-rated companies in New Zealand.
The trading companies pay regular dividends to CCHL. In turn, CCHL pays dividends of around $38m a year to the city council. The CCHL group companies have also provided significant capital for the council to fund other projects.
Infrastructure: Enable Networks
Enable Networks has around 100km of ultra-fast open access fibre optic cable network and announced in May 2009 a further $36 million would be invested to accelerate the rollout of this fibre network over the next two years.
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More than 300 infrastructure initiatives identified
A Canterbury Development Corporation report on private and public infrastructure projects has identified more than 300 initiatives together worth millions of dollars planned for the next three years.
The July 2009 report and its appendices are available now:
CDC Infrastructure Audit July 2009
CDC Infrastructure Audit Appendix A
CDC Infrastructure Audit Appendices B - G