A policy applying to the sale of harbour lease land in Whakatāne’s Central Business District is to be reviewed.
A report received by the Whakatāne District Council’s Policy Committee yesterday (26 November) recommended that a Harbour Lease Land Project be implemented, as proposed by the Grow Whakatāne Advisory Board. Councillors adopted the report recommendations, which will see an analysis carried out on whether a moratorium on Harbour land sales in the CBD, which has been in place since 2002, is the most appropriate stance for the Council to have on land vested by the former Whakatāne Harbour Board. The project will also review and update work carried out in 2012 by property management consultants The Property Group, for the then-Town Vision Advisory Board.
The Council has administered the land on behalf of the Harbour Endowment Fund since 1976, under a Parliamentary Order in Council which provides for the management and use of the assets for the benefit of port and harbour activities, including facilities and amenities within the harbour catchment area. Amongst those assets are 132 ground leases in the Whakatāne town centre. A number of lessees have expressed interest in purchasing properties to create freehold titles, but the moratorium has meant that sales have not been considered.
In a supporting presentation, Tim Hayward of the Property Group said that a fresh look at the strategy for managing the CBD landholdings was timely. “As the lessor, the Council’s interests in ground leases are good quality investments which produce attractive returns, relative to their very low risk,” he said. “While that means there’s no rush to sell them, there may be circumstances where the sale of land will contribute to commercial and social outcomes of benefit to the community.”
Mayor Tony Bonne said the Grow Whakatāne Advisory Board had identified the need to “leverage Council’s ownership of strategic landholdings to facilitate economic growth”, while promoting and driving the implementation of the Town Vision was also a key focus area.
“This review will start the process of thinking about how we manage these important assets. Past Councils have not always made good divestment decisions, and if any land is to be sold to facilitate development, it’s important that we have policies in place so that funds are reinvested to maintain or improve the returns generated.”
The outcomes of the Harbour Lease Land Project are expected to be reported back to the Council in the first quarter of 2016.