The few residents who still live in Christchurch's red zone are looking forward to some more certainty in their lives now that the land around them has a new owner.
The Government officially handed over ownership to Christchurch City Council at a ceremony on Friday morning.
Stephen Bourke is one of a handful of residents living at Brooklands after he chose to stay in his red zoned home after the Canterbury Earthquakes
A decade on, 400 neighbours have left, their houses demolished, the sections cleared.
But on Friday he got a new neighbour - the council- who now owns the swathe of red zone land around his home.
"It's amazing," Bourke said. "I hope it's the end of the chapter because we've been through a lot out here with different people owning the land."
Christchurch Regeneration spokesperson Megan Woods made the official handover of artist Bill Sutton's historic house and 70 hectares of land in Brooklands and South Shore.
Lianne Dalziel, the mayor of Christchurch, said it's an asset, "not just for now, it's for future generations as well".
Eventually, all red zone land will be handed over to the council, but there's been no decision yet on what they will do in Brooklands. But Bourke has some ideas.
"We would like to see it used for a lot of outdoor activities, biking, it is close to the lagoon, it's close to Styx river, it's a good outdoor area."
They're ideas for the future for a key coastal area that played an important part in Canterbury's history.
