New Zealand’s Christ Church Cathedral is being mothballed after the country’s government refused to contribute more money for rebuilding.

The landmark place of worship was struck by two earthquakes, the first in September 2010 and the second in February 2011 and work to rebuild the extensive damage began in May 2020.

The cost of repair is said to be around $219m (£103m) but there is a funding shortfall of around $85m (£40m). Now, the Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that no further taxpayers’ money will be used for the project.

The chair of Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd (CCRL), Mark Stewart, told local newspaper The Press that the government’s decision was short-sighted and that another $50 million (£23m) could be added to the cost for every decade the cathedral wasn't in use.

"By just kicking it down the road it’s actually making it worse and more expensive and harder to solve.” CCRL says it will work to find alternative funding.

The Mayor of Christchurch Phil Mauger described it as a “very sad day for the city".

“This is so much more than just a church, it’s a building that sits at the heart of our city, and I hope that funding to complete the reinstatement can be secured at some point,”he added.

The Bishop of Christchurch was among private donors who had contributed to the repair costs. Rt Rev Peter Carrell told local media that the decision to mothball the cathedral had been “tough, but inevitable…It was always a possibility, but we kept our hopes very high that funding would come from the government, and that this would help us to get to where we wanted to be”.

Christ Church Cathedral in the city of Canterbury was consecrated in 1881 and has been a key part of the region’s identity for 150 years. Like many of the world’s great Cathedrals it took about 130 years to complete.