There’s usually a unanimous roll of the eyes followed by an audible groan when you mention the ChristChurch Cathedral nowadays.

Most people in Canterbury are more concerned about the state of their own houses or the latest battle with their insurer to worry about the contentious building. Others have little interest in something they’ve barely visited in the last decade.

Certainly, I think we could all agree, the Anglican Church is over the whole debacle.

But there are a few souls left whose passion is driving the mission to save the historic building.

The Great Christchurch Buildings Trust (GCBT) led by ex-politician Jim Anderton is determined to save the Cathedral from the wrecking ball and indeed the church.  

As it stands (no pun intended) the Anglican Church have said it will cost over one million dollars to restore the church, but it could also take up to 2 years and cost 220 million dollars. Basically they’re pushing forward with plans to build a new, contemporary design, regardless of what the trust is doing.

GCBT calculations show the ChristChurch Cathedral can be restored on budget of 67 million dollars and they’re willing to fundraise for all of this. Jim Anderton’s even told media on several occasions, he’s very confident he could garner that kind of money.

This year, after a lengthy battle that’s been raging since 2011, the High Court lifted the order preventing the deconstruction of the building, effectively giving the Church Property Trustee's power to replace it with a more modern replica if they wish.

With the legal path clear it’s only a matter of quashing the Trust’s persistent claims the building is entirely rebuildable.  

There was a moment of light for the Trust when the Labour party stepped in, announcing they would fight Section 38 of the CERA Act if elected, meaning the public would have to be consulted before any other heritage building was pulled down. Unfortunately the Trust can no longer lean on Labour for support.

In an effort to get the public back onside a huge campaign was launched in August, with aerial photos of the Cathedral put in billboards around the city. The idea was to show people that actually, the damage wasn’t all that bad.

This push was met with nothing from the Anglican Diocese. Spokesperson Jayson Rhodes simply issued a sigh of frustration when I spoke to him about the latest campaign. He said they couldn’t keep working on assumptions, they were moving forward and that was it.

But the Trust won’t be beaten; their latest step in protecting the embattled church was something that perhaps should’ve been done a year ago. They conducted an independent poll of 1000 Christchurch residents to see what they wanted for their Cathedral. The results supported their cause, but weren’t earth shattering either. 51% wanted to keep the cathedral 43% said let it go.

The battle continues... For the Great Christchurch Buildings Trust, they want to give the Cathedral back to the people of Christchurch which is certainly an admirable quest. The real problem is that it’s not ours or theirs. The building belongs to the church, it’s their building that their people work in everyday. It’s very difficult to now ask the general public, who maybe attend a service in the Cathedral once or twice a year, to determine its fate.

Deciding what to do with the ChristChurch cathedral has divided the region. The Trust will continue to fight the Church, and the Church will continue to ignore them. Eventually, all parties involved will need some sort of closure and someone will have to make the ruling decision.

Is it time we just let it go?