Generus Group’s Ranfurly Village must pay Auckland Council an extra $650,000

Ranfurly Village at Three Kings in Auckland. Photo / Generus Group

Privately owned retirement business Ranfurly Village must pay Auckland Council an extra $650,000 in development contributions for three buildings it developed on the former Three Kings war veterans’ site, taking its total bill to $1.1m.

The council, represented by Alan Galbraith, KC, sued the business owned by Graham Wilkinson, whose Generus Group owns a village in Parnell, two at Mt Maunganui and two in Christchurch.

The council charged development contributions on new developments to help recover the costs of infrastructure to support Auckland’s growth, including for transport, footpaths, roads, intersections, parks, sports grounds, drainage, stormwater and community facilities.

Justice Laura O’Gorman’s decision from the High Court at Auckland said the council sought to collect debts for invoices issued in 2020 and 2021, with money owed on three village blocks.

Ranfurly Village, represented by Russell Bartlett, KC, had already paid $499,000, but the council said the business owed it an extra $650,000 because more than $1m in contributions were owed in total.

Ranfurly had argued against that higher amount when the project built in stages from 2014 to 2021.

Around 2011, total contributions owed were estimated at $1.3m, but Ranfurly contended $499,000 was all that should be due and it had paid that amount in full.

The company cited development contributions paid by Ryman Healthcare after it objected to paying higher fees in 2016 on its Possum Bourne village in Pukekohe.

Ryman said that village had several unique features that created a substantially reduced demand for community facilities compared to the development contributions policy. Its evidence included research surveys about the demand of village residents.

So instead of having to pay $2.3m in fees for that village, Ryman only had to pay $606,808, which was a 74 per cent reduction.

But the judge decided the three council invoices sent to Ranfurly Village were payable in full.

Graham Wilkinson says residents he talks to feel insulted about complaints others make.

She said the council which was also entitled to costs.

Asked about the decision today, Wilkinson said Ranfurly had cited the Ryman situation where the Pukekohe village did not use the full level of services so the council cut the charges.

The council reduced the amount of development contributions from 2019 onwards by 79 per cent for all retirement villages, he said.

“On the basis of that new policy, we argued we should only have had to pay the lower amount for all of Ranfurly, as all of Ranfurly also only used the same reduced level of services and the new policy and charges reflected this.

“We were relying on a council clause that said the council was required to reassess contributions if a development was staged over various years which had different policies,” Wilkinson said today.

But the judge decided despite all of Ranfurly using a lower level of services, the council was allowed to charge at the high rate before 2019 and then at the lower rate after 2019 because that was the council policy, he said.

Previous Herald reports have told how Generus villages are on properties are either wholly owned or in partnership with charitable trusts and iwi.

The Ranfurly War Veterans’ Trust sold a 100-year lease of the 2.7ha site to Wilkinson’s company.

The village has a 60-bed hospital and will have 192 apartments upon completion, which in 2019 was expected to be in 2021.

Ranfurly House has a restaurant, bar, library and community rooms on the ground floor. It also has a theatre and Ranfurly Veterans’ Trust offices, and areas associated veteran organisations can operate from.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, has written books and covered property here and overseas.