Landowners in Christchurch's Port Hills who are appealing the zoning of their earthquake damaged land say yet another delay from the Government just adds to the disaster.
Residents who have had their land zoned red, but have told they have until the end of March next year to accept the Crown offer. The previous deadline had been the end of January.
The Government says it is waiting for the Court of Appeal to rule on a judicial review which found that the red zone designation in some eastern parts of the city was not legal.
However, resident Phil Elmy says three years is far too long to be left in limbo. He says there are a lot of very unhappy and distraught people.
"It's an absolute disaster in terms of the social aspect of it - the earthquakes were bad enough but the support of residents is the real nightmare that started happening after the earthquakes," he says.
Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says the outcome of the appeal will clarify the red zone status, which in turn will affect how the Port Hills zoning review will be determined.
