Gore council agrees in principle to sell former golf driving range for development

Tuesday, 12 December 2023

The Gore council-owned land, which borders Waimea St, State Highway 94 and the boundary of houses on Norton St, was previously used as a golf driving range.

The Gore District Council has agreed in principle to sell a large parcel of land it owns for development, but part of it will remain under council ownership as a historical reserve.

The land, which borders Waimea St, State Highway 94 and the boundary of houses on Norton St, was previously used as a golf driving range.

The sale was discussed in committee at a full council meeting on July 11, and council interim chief executive Stephen Parry said the land sale would be discussed at a full council meeting next week, during which councillors would vote to approve the sale.

Part of the land that was a former brickworks would be retained by the council, he said.

It was hoped the land would be sold in the new year.

“With the new government, there’s some renewed vigour in the housing market, so it’s probably a good time to test the market,” he said.

The council had done some preliminary work on a hypothetical scheme looking at how many properties could be developed on the land, and Parry would not speculate on what it was worth.

Council interim boss Stephen Parry says a vote to approve the land sale will take place at a meeting next week. (File photo)

“It’s better we go to market and let the market determine those things,” he said.

The council bought the land in 1993. At that time, ideas were floated about developing it into a southern-style shantytown attraction alongside Hokonui Pioneer Park, but the idea did not go ahead.

Instead, the land was used as a golf driving range, which was “pretty popular” for a while but had since been vacant, he said.

Other pockets of council-owned land that were surplus to requirements, including the former hospital site, were “in the pipeline for consideration”, Parry said.

Good ventilation is an essential component of a healthy and sustainable home.

“This one is the low-hanging fruit, for want of a better term. It requires the least amount of work from the council to sell it.”

The council had previously developed the Matai Ridge subdivision in East Gore, but Parry said no consideration had been given to the council developing the former driving range for another subdivision.

At the July 11 meeting, the sale of the land was discussed in committee. The minutes, requested by Stuff under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, showed that councillor Glenys Dickson had asked if the Waimea St property could be used for stormwater collection.

She also suggested another option might be a wetland development that could double as a tourist attraction, given that the land was close to the Croydon Lodge.

In response, the council’s three waters asset manager, Matt Bayliss, said there might be some opposition to having a wetland close to a residential area.

In 2021, the Mataura Licensing Trust also sold a large piece of land for development: the site of the former Longford Tavern in East Gore.

In October this year, Kāinga Ora’s regional director for Otago and Southland, Kerrie Young, told Stuff that the Crown agency planned to build 24 homes on the former tavern site and was awaiting planning and building consents.