A group wanting to save Christchurch's badly damaged cathedral has been denied the right to make an appeal to the Supreme Court.
ChristChurch Cathedral in the central city has been in ruins since the February 2011 earthquake and the Anglican Church has been prevented from bringing it down to the level of the bottom windows because of ongoing court action.
The Great Christchurch Buildings Trust has been challenging the legal right of the Church Property Trustees, who administer the stone cathedral, to demolish it.
The Anglican Church has already come up with three options: full restoration of the cathedral, rebuilding it to a similar design using modern materials, or rebuilding it using a modern design.
Trust co-chair Jim Anderton said on Monday that despite the setback, the chances of the cathedral being demolished remain slim due to further legal action on other aspects of the Church's decision to bring the building down.
Mr Anderton said now that Cantabrians are starting to recover from the trauma of the quakes, they are realising how important it is to retain as much as possible of the South Island city's history.
He said according to the Anglican Church's own research, most people in the region prefer the option of restoring the cathedral or building a replica.
