Langsview Estate being sold for between $1 million and $2 million plus GST after the company that obtained consents for development, OB Holdings, went into receivership.
PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Views from Langsview Estate being sold for between $1 million and $2 million plus GST after the company that obtained consents for development, OB Holdings, went into receivership.
PHOTO/SUPPLIED
A company that obtained consent to subdivide nearly 200 hectares of land at Langs Beach following a six-year legal wrangle with territorial authorities in Northland has gone into receivership.
The land is back on the market and expected to sell for up to $2 million, with the subdivision consent still in place for the new owners.
In 2006, Auckland-based company OB Holdings applied to the Whangarei and Kaipara district councils and Northland Regional Council for resource consent to develop 198.8ha at Cove Rd, Langs Beach, known as Langsview Estate.
There are two major titles for subdivision into 34 residential lifestyle lots of 0.4ha to 4ha each and the resource consent was originally granted by the Environment Court in August 2012 with a raft of conditions.
Failure to agree to conditions of the resource consent meant the legal wrangle between OB Holdings and the councils took years to be finalised.
The conditions mostly covered erosion and sediment control, earthworks, adverse effects on the environment, archaeological sites, vegetation clearance, landscape, and weed and pest management plans.
The consent will expire on May 31, 2023.
There is a provision for part of the land zoned countryside environment to be given to the Department of Conservation for a scenic walkway.
Council staff initially recommended the application for consent be declined, saying the development would result in cumulative adverse effects on the environment that could not be avoided, remedied or mitigated through any conditions placed on the consent being granted.
They said the proposal was also inconsistent with several of the councils' policies.
OB Holdings, owned by Graham Walter Oborn of Waipu, went into receivership in September and Waterstone Insolvency of Albany was appointed receivers.
Receiver Damien Grant said OB Holdings borrowed a "relatively small amount" of money from a finance company after the Environment Court granted the consent but could not repay the amount.
He was not at liberty to reveal how much was borrowed or the company which lent the money.
Mr Grant also did not know why the development did not proceed between the granting of consent and receivership.
"We're in the process of selling the land and it will be up to the new owner to carry out the developments that OB Holdings obtained resource consents for. The land is likely to be purchased by a developer."
Stewart McElwain of Ray White in Mangawhai is selling the 198.8ha for between $1 million and $2 million plus GST.
The set sale date is November 30.
A general security agreement over the consent holder enables transfer ownership of the consents to a new owner.
"The new owner has a right to develop the land without paying for the costings, plans and consents as they are already in place. The views are spectacular so the potential are enormous.
Mr Grant said the right buyer was going to get a really good deal.
The land boasts views from the Brynderwyn summit to Whangarei Heads, Bream Bay, across the ocean and gulf islands down to Te Arai and beyond.
It is covered in regenerating, native bush and clusters of mature native species including kauri, rimu, and puriri.
Messages left for Mr Oborn, his lawyer and Mr Grant to contact the Northern Advocate were not returned by edition time.