Church 'made mistake' with cardboard cathedral funding

The Anglican Diocese has admitted it was wrong to use a multimillion-dollar insurance payout from the quake-damaged Christ Church Cathedral to fund its transitional "cardboard'' cathedral.

The ongoing legal saga surrounding the damaged 132-year-old Christchurch landmark building's future has returned to court today.

In 2012, the High Court ruled that the Anglican church was entitled to deconstruct the building, but only if a new one - and not necessarily a replica - was built on the same Cathedral Square site.

The Great Christchurch Buildings Trust (GCBT), fronted by former MPs Jim Anderton and Philip Burdon, challenged the decision in the Court of Appeal, which last year upheld the High Court's findings.

And last December, the Supreme Court dismissed a further appeal against its deconstruction.

Cathedral custodians, the Church Property Trustees (CPT), last year released three design options for a future cathedral.

It included full restoration costing; a timber replacement, or contemporary design , which the church said it preferred.

A defended hearing is going ahead before Justice Graham Panckhurst at the High Court in Christchurch today.

CPT made an application to discharge a stay of demolition.

The move would allow them to start deconstructing the cathedral to a "safe'' height of two to three metres.

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Church 'made mistake' with cardboard cathedral funding