Tauranga City Council sells surplus land

Sales of surplus land could boost the coffers of the Tauranga City Council by at least $29 million over the next five years.

The 59 properties and lots on the list range in size from tiny suburban strips of land to a 470ha block of steep hillsides covered in native bush.

Topping the list of potential earners are the 71ha Merricks Farm in Pyes Pa and the 41ha Smiths Farm between Route K and Cambridge Rd. Earlier this year, the council earmarked potential revenue from selling the farms at $10 million.

The list of properties also includes unspecified, but potentially huge, returns if developments stack up on the council's off-street car parks in Durham St opposite Baycourt, and on the 4400sq m site between Devonport Towers and the Inland Revenue Building in Elizabeth St.

However, doubts surround how many of the properties will reach the market, including planning hurdles around reserves in Newton St, Botanical Rd, Cheyne Rd, Hilltop Rd, Ohauiti Rd, Solomon St and a 2.9ha green belt off Longview Drive in Papamoa.

Most properties on the sales list are deemed "under investigation" or still in the early "preparatory phase". The values are the conservative rateable values that were issued earlier this month for all the city's properties.

Mayor Stuart Crosby highlighted the political and legal issues on some properties, including the perpetual leases on four commercial properties in 15th Ave that are valued at nearly $1.4 million.

The first sales expected to go through are five lots at Sulphur Point in the Tauranga Harbour Marine Precinct, which are under tender to investors.

The precinct, with a total valuation of $11.3 million, has been surveyed into 18 lots.

Crosby said some of Merricks Farm could be retained for stormwater detention ponds and a passive reserve opposite the Te Ranga battle site on the corner of Pyes Pa and Joyce roads.

Proceeds from selling Soper Reserve, at 61 Newton St, Mount Maunganui, could be halved from the $1.9 million valuation if council decided that Brewers Bar should be allowed to continue its summer concerts on the southern side of the reserve.

Both reserves in Newton St, including one valued at $2.4 million, would go out for public consultation once decisions were made about what to sell.

Crosby said the 2.8ha Ohauiti Reserve was still on the list even although he preferred that it remained an open green space. Like Merricks Farm, Ohauiti Reserve was "under investigation as to future use".

He said the two forest-covered Seales Rd blocks in the Oropi hills, totalling 571ha, had ecological and historical value but were not worth a lot of money.

The council was also looking to quit land it purchased years ago on behalf of the New Zealand Transport Agency in Tauriko to secure route options for the Tauriko bypass.

Crosby said the council understood the agency was focusing on the alignment of State Highway 29 through Tauriko or a route close to that alignment.

The council will take about six months to a year to prepare properties for sale.

Properties with the biggest potential price-tags
95 Newton St, Mount Maunganui: $2.4m
1-7 Glasgow St: $2.14m ¦61 Newton St: $1.91m
339 Bell Rd, Papamoa: $1.44m
Kairua Rd ex-reservoir land: $1m
Ohauiti Reserve: Unspecified
Five Sandhurst Drive sections: Unspecified
Merricks Farm, Pyes Pa: Unspecified
Smiths Farm: Unspecified ¦Tauriko farm blocks: Unspecified
82-98 Devonport Rd: Unspecified
21-41 Durham St: Unspecified
Marine Precinct lots: Unspecified