Prime Newmarket land to be given back to Dilworth family

Prime parts of inner-city Auckland, including land freed up by the Newmarket Viaduct replacement, will be offered back to the family trust that originally owned them in the 1840s.

The land, taken over the years under the Public Works Act, is bordered by Broadway, Mahuru St and St Marks Rd, and includes several parcels under the Newmarket Viaduct, built in the 1960s to carry the Southern Motorway into central Auckland.

Justice Rebecca Ellis' decision, released in the High Court in Auckland today, noted the NZ Transport Agency was reluctant to sell the land back as the strategically important viaduct would need major renovation in 50 years.

"It is possible that the land would be exempt from the offer-back obligation because there had been a significant change in character as a result of the public work," she said.

However, although NZTA had the right to procure the land in the future, if required, to construct or repair the motorway, the "largely unneeded" land should be offered back, Justice Ellis said.

"In my assessment, Dilworth has succeeded more than it has failed [in its offerback plea]."

The judgment also gave a potted history of the prominent Dilworth family since James Dilworth arrived in New Zealand from Ireland in the 1800s. By the time of his death in 1894, he owned significant tracts of Auckland land.

James Dilworth. Photo / File

The Dilworth School, in Epsom, was established by his will and opened in 1906.

After the Newmarket Viaduct was replaced recently, the Dilworth Trust Board, which owns the land under Newmarket's Westfield shopping centre, wanted large parts of the original holdings back.