Today marks the 7th anniversary of the devastating Canterbury earthquake. Unlike other years, I didn’t attend the official commemoration, instead, I visited the CTV site to see the new memorial garden they’ve created. I then took a moment to reflect on the last seven years while walking through the empty chairs memorial. As I was walking around the city there were still so many signs of a damaged city, but also, of course, the many examples of the rebuild and renewal that has taken place in recent years. I’ve heard experts say it takes 10 years for a city to fully recover. I look forward to viewing our city in another 3 years time – I’m sure things will be much different.