Christchurch Vehicle Recovery Operation hits halfway point

Approximately 2500 cars have now been retrieved from the Christchurch central city area in a massive Vehicle Recovery Operation run by Police, and supported by members of the New Zealand Defence Force, USAR and staff from other Government agencies.

More than 60 people are involved in the operation, which includes registering vehicle owners, collecting keys and physically retrieving cars from the cordoned central city area.

The officer heading the operation, Senior Sergeant Graham Reeves, says when the operation was initiated, it was believed that there were as many as 5000 cars in the central city area.

"This is a large and hugely complicated operation, involving many people," says Senior Sergeant Reeves.

"We have been very conscious of the fact that being without a car can be a huge challenge and juggling act for many people – particularly if they are a one-car family or need their car for work. At the same time, many people left belongings in their cars on the day of the earthquake which they are, understandably, very keen to get back.

"As a result, we have been focused on getting this operation up and running as quickly as possible and helping to reunite people with their cars as soon as possible."

Senior Sergeant Reeves says it has been incredibly satisfying for everyone involved to be able to reunite owners with their vehicles

The operation has retrieved cars from most of the public car parks in the CBD, and the team is now progressively retrieving cars from city streets, public spaces, and private and underground car parks.

Senior Sergeant Reeves says hundreds of keys have been registered with the Vehicle Recovery Team at their base in Hagley Park – but they still urgently need hundreds more from vehicle owners who still have vehicles located in the CBD.

"Now that we have worked through the main public carparks, we are progressively moving cars from other areas, such as streets, alleyways and other less obvious carparks. Once we have keys, details and a location, we can move in and clear different areas over several days.

"Once the vehicle has been located and retrieved, we will then contact owners to come and collect their vehicle from the Hagley Park centre we have set up."

Vehicle owners should bring their car keys, reasonable proof of ownership and some photo identification, such as a drivers licence, to the Vehicle Recovery Team located at the Armagh St entrance to Hagley Park. They will be asked to fill out a registration form, including contact details. The team is available between 7am and 8pm daily.

Senior Sergeant Reeves says once vehicles have been retrieved from the cordoned area, they are kept at a site that is being monitored full-time by Police staff and licensed security guards.

People who have cars in the Farmers car park are also asked to bring their keys to the Vehicle Recovery Team in Hagley Park. Work is still underway to determine when vehicles will be able to be retrieved from this carpark as it has suffered structural damage, but Police need to collect these keys so that they can retrieve vehicles as soon as the building is deemed sound.

Owners who still have vehicles in public car park buildings which have already been covered by Police are also asked to bring their keys to the Vehicle Recovery Team in Hagley Park (details as above).

For the latest information about the Vehicle Recovery Operation, please go to http://www.police.govt.nz/christchurch-vehicle-recovery