A trust lobbying for the restoration of the Christ Church Cathedral says the community is profoundly frustrated at the delay.
February 14, 2016 - ChristChurch Cathedral which was damaged in the earthquakes of 2011 is seen behind a fence. Photo: AFP
Negotiations about the future of the earthquake-damaged cathedral have once again stalled.
"We sincerely hope it's a misunderstanding that can be resolved." Great Christchurch Buildings Trust co-chair Philip Burdon
The government said it offered $10 million as well as a $15m loan to support the cathedral's reconstruction.
However, Bishop Victoria Matthews said the church was yet to receive an official binding offer from the government.
Great Christchurch Buildings Trust co-chair Philip Burdon said there was no reason an agreement could not be reached within the next six months.
The trust is lobbying for a full cathedral restoration.
Mr Burdon said there had been misunderstandings along the way, but playing the blame-game was unhelpful.
The community was "led to believe" an agreement would be reached by the end of last year, or at least before the sixth anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake.
"It is a profound frustration within the community at large at the way this has obviously not been settled yet."
Mr Burdon was surprised to hear the church say it did not think it could reach a solution within six months.
"It would be interesting to know the reasons for that delay.
The cathedral issue was holding up the development of central Christchurch and needed to be resolved.
"We had understood the parties had been in agreement at the end of last year... and were very close to agreement now.
"It is terribly important that the parties do now achieve a settlement, whatever that may mean."
Mr Burdon implored the parties to reach an agreement in good faith.
He wondered what was the cause of the apparent "stand-off".
"We want to avoid a blame game if we can... I would hope sane heads can prevail."