The Acute Services Building (ASB) at Christchurch Hospital is the largest government project in the Canterbury rebuild programme and a significant investment in the future health needs of the Canterbury region. Located behind Christchurch Women’s Hospital in the inner city of Christchurch, the project has a base value of $483m and is scheduled to open in 2019.

Due to the site’s location, adjacent to the sensitive environmental setting of Hagley Park, there was a high probability that applying for resource consent for the project would result in the planning process becoming protracted through public notification of the application and potential Court appeals. Such a process would have made it impossible for key project milestones to be delivered. Accordingly, a request was made to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery to use powers under the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011 to designate the site of the ASB to expedite its development and approve an associated outline of plan of works under the Resource Management Act 1991.

Boffa Miskell was engaged to prepare a planning evaluation, including an Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE) to support the request for designation to the Minister of Canterbury Earthquake Recovery. In addition, Boffa Miskell provided urban design, landscape assessment and architecture services for the project. Boffa Miskell’s planning role included advising the Ministry on consenting strategy, working with the design team to address environmental constraints, and co-ordinating other specialised technical assessments to inform the AEE.