Kaipara District Council seeks feedback on potential Mangawhai land purchase

Mangawhai is one of the fastest-growing communities in the country and Kaipara District Council wants to buy land at Mangawhai Village to create sporting and recreational facilities. Photo / NZME

Kaipara District Council is looking at spending almost $6 million on land at Mangawhai to create public sporting and recreational facilities.

The council has already earmarked a 5.8ha block of land in Mangawhai Village but first wants to hear what the community thinks.

Developing the site with sporting and recreational facilities is expected to cost several million more.

The decision to engage the Mangawhai community was made unanimously after an Extraordinary Meeting on Wednesday, August 10.

Mangawhai is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, and demand for public sports and recreational facilities is on the rise too, Mayor Dr Jason Smith said.

The Mangawhai Spatial Plan identifies the need for additional sports and/or recreational spaces to cater for the growing population.

The council has been investigating options for suitable land to meet this growing need. The preferred option is approximately 5.8ha located in Mangawhai Village.

According to an independent valuation, the land is worth about $5.9m in today's market.

Any purchase will not impact rates, as the council is proposing to use the current pool of reserve contributions to buy the land, Smith said.

"Based on our growth, the reserve contributions we are proposing to use for the purchase will be replenished in just over two years.

"Large, flat blocks of land are increasingly hard to find in central Mangawhai. The opportunity before us may not present itself again. It's important to know what the community thinks of this proposed purchase before council makes a final decision."

Reserve contributions are funds collected from developers or property owners who are subdividing their land. The use of reserve contributions is specifically allocated for the purchase or upgrade of open spaces and is not available to fund other facilities like libraries, roading, waste etc.

Funds are divided into four catchment areas across the Kaipara district, and can only be used in the area they were collected, in this case Mangawhai. The proposed funds cannot be spent in other parts of the district.

To find out more, and to have their say people can drop into the Kaipara District Council office in Mangawhai or complete the online survey at www.kaipara.govt.nz/haveyoursay, which is open until Monday, September 5.

Results of the community feedback will be included in the report at the council's September meeting, where elected members will decide on whether to purchase the land.