Fresh options needed for Kaikohe Hotel site

The last piece of the old Kaikohe Hotel was brought crashing down last year. Photo / Debbie Beadle

An eyesore on Kaikohe's main street may be turned into a temporary green space until the site's new owners are ready to develop it.

No decision has been made yet, however, with the Kaikohe-Hokianga Community Board turning down an initial plan to convert part of the former Kaikohe Hotel site - about 760sq m of the total 10,000sqm - into a roadside recreation area.

Instead, board members instructed Far North District Council staff to work with the site's owners and the Kaikohe Business Association to come up with a fresh report on "reasonably practicable options" for public use of the space.

The historic but badly rundown Kaikohe Hotel, which used to dominate central Broadway, was demolished last year after it was bought by Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi in a mortgagee sale. The site is now fenced off and occupied only by weeds.

The runanga offered the council temporary use of the site if the council covered the costs of converting it into grass (about $30,000) as well as maintenance ($14,000 a year) and remitting the rates ($6800).

Instead, council staff suggested taking over 755sq m of the site, reducing the costs to about $10,600 for ground preparation, grass and fencing, with maintenance costs and remitted rates totalling about $3000 a year.

That was rejected at the September 8 meeting of the Kaikohe-Hokianga Community Board, whose members directed council staff, the runanga and the business association to come up with fresh options.

Business Association chairman Steve Sangster said the group wanted the area made into a vibrant public space.

"We'd like to see a bomb site turned into a place for people to enjoy. We can do better than having an ugly fence around a piece of wasteland," he said.

Confusingly, the council had already awarded a grant to a project by Akau, a Kaikohe-based social enterprise, and the business association to turn part of the site into a garden for produce and rongoa (traditional medicine) as well as an area for picnics and relaxation. NorthTec had also indicated an interest in becoming involved through its sustainable horticulture course.

That project is on hold while the council and community board ponder how best to use the site.