Before Too Long

...before too long, the words will be spoken, I know all the actions by heart...

In a week or two, John Key and Gerry Brownlee will be in Christchurch to announce the outcome of CERA's 100 day blueprint for the CBD.

They will, of course, provide fulsome praise for the plan, hail its visionary nature, enthuse over the multitude of opportunities it provides, emphasize the need to progress with haste and spill over with so many truisms and so much hope for the future.  But then ,they have to, it is not just what is expected of them, it is necessary, there is no alternative for them.

What will it really be like?  Fiona Farrell wrote an opinion piece in The Press and I think she hits the nail on the head.  The scope of the brief was limited, and the outcomes will be, in her words, hollow.

Christchurch will, by definition, head down the right path, in the fullness of time.  The plan that will be released in two weeks time, with full support from the PM, could easily turn out to be expensive and irrelevant.  As often things can be when central government stray beyond their areas of competence.

Paul Kelly - Gossip, 1986