Controversial Kerikeri Domain decision on hold until new councillors sworn in

The Kerikeri Domain pavilion has been boarded up since a fire in June 2016. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A newly formed lobby group has welcomed a council move to defer a decision about Kerikeri Domain's future management until after the election.

Far North District councillors had been due to discuss a report on options for Domain governance at their final meeting on October 3 but instead voted to leave it to the incoming council, which is due to be elected on Saturday.

Councillors adopted a reserve management plan for the Domain in June and had been due to decide what kind of group should oversee its implementation.

Their options were to stick to the status quo (leaving the Domain under direct council control), delegating governance to the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board, setting up a council committee, or establishing an incorporated society.

The recommended option was an incorporated society, which a staff report said would allow greater community input and independent fundraising.

Instead councillors voted unanimously to let the report "lie on the table" for a new batch of elected members to consider.

Kathryn Starr, spokeswoman for Friends of the Domain, said she was thrilled councillors had heeded community concerns and made a "common sense decision".

Earlier in the meeting she told councillors the newly formed lobby group wanted to encourage greater use of the Domain but was opposed to any form of commercialisation such as a café or transport hub.

The Friends also wanted to ensure the Domain remained a green space and a venue for organised sport.

The public had become wary of the council's intentions for the Domain, suspicions that were heightened by planning to debate the issue on the eve of an election.

Starr was also concerned that the planned demolition of the Domain pavilion would remove changing rooms and floodlights used by sporting codes such as rugby league.

The pavilion has been boarded up since an arson attack in 2016 and is controversially scheduled for demolition, though no date has been set.

At the same meeting councillors voted to limit the chief executive's delegated powers during the election period so he cannot award a pavilion demolition contract before new councillors are sworn in.