Fight for City Land heads to Court

A legal battle is brewing between the Whangarei District Council and some of the city's founding families over ownership of prime land at the Town Basin.
The council believes it does not have to offer land it bought under the Public Works Act at the Town Basin back to the original owners, and is seeking backing from the High Court.
But the council is facing a legal challenge from descendants of some of Whangarei's founding families. The row centres on land freed up by the re-alignment of the Basin roading system last year. The land was bought under the Public Works Act in the 1960s and 1970s for commercial and roading purposes. The original owners include Bignells and Reyburns.
While the pieces of land are no more than several hundred square metres each, their significance is huge. They are now part of a carpark and the council wants to develop the whole area as part of its plan to revitalise the city's central business district.
Council spokesman Gary Oldcorn said the land was acquired under different parts of the act and under different circumstances.
``We are dealing with whether the council has to offer that land back under the Public Works Act. Our view is that we don't have to and we are asking the court to rule,'' he said.
The land was important for Whangarei, but equally so for the descendants. Brian Bignell said his family believed the land bought from his grandfather, Stephen Bignell, under the act was no longer being used for the purpose it was taken for.
Some of the land was never used for roading and should have been offered back to the family in the 1980s, he said.
``The council has been accepting rent on that land for the last 25 years. The sale at the time isn't under dispute, but what is in dispute is that now the land is not being used for the purpose it was taken it should be offered back to the family first.''
All the family wanted was first right of refusal on the land, as was their right under the Public Works Act, and they wanted the court to sort it out.
Kerikeri lawyer Rick Mark, acting for the Reyburn family, said their issue was slightly different. ``We are saying that the council's application to the High Court is premature because the council hasn't made a decision on what they are going to do with that land, or they haven't disclosed what they want to do with it,'' Mr Mark said.
``We have to determine what they want to do with the land then decide or not if that purpose is the same as for what the land was taken for.''
If it was found the council wanted the land for purposes other than what it was taken for the Reyburn family would review its position, he said. The matter is due to be heard in the High Court at Whangarei in October.