Because owning property has a cost, it’s good financial practice to continually review the portfolio and decide whether to keep or dispose of properties that are no longer being used for their original purpose.
When doing this, our first step is to identify likely properties and assess them against the criteria for retention. These criteria include:

• whether the property is being used for the purpose it was originally acquired for its cultural, environmental or heritage value, and
• whether it can meet any of the Council’s immediate or longer-term needs.

Properties that don’t meet the retention criteria go onto the shortlist to be considered for disposal. The shortlist contains 46 properties.
Five of these properties are either reserve or “parks” under section 138 of the Local Government Act 2002 because the land was acquired or used principally for community, recreational, environmental, cultural or spiritual purposes:

• three reserves are undeveloped, with
  • one held for a future road that is not proceeding.
  • one held for recreation in an area where there are many other parks.
  • one held for utility purposes and has a single buried cable on it.
• two parks
  • one is a block in a rural area that has been grazed for many years and is not required for community purposes.
  • one is surplus land associated with a land drainage project.
• One property is residential land that the Council is considering selling to a community housing provider for new homes.

The other 40 properties identified are former residential red zone properties (which equates to less than 3% of the Port Hills red zone land). For these properties, we need to take an extra step to assess the hazards that led to the land being zoned red:

• If the hazard can be removed or reduced to an acceptable level, for example by land title reconfiguration or engineering works such as bunds or rock clearance, the property can be considered for disposal.
• If not, the Council will retain ownership of the property.

We are currently seeking your views through this Draft LTP on:
- whether we should embark on formal processes for the five properties that are either reserves or parks; and
- whether or not we should dispose of any or all of the other 40 properties.

We follow the Council’s policy and normal practices:

• Policy – publicly tendering properties for sale unless there is a clear reason for doing otherwise.
• Practice – in an open, transparent, well-advertised and public manner at market value. This may include methods other than tender, such as auction, deadline sale or general listing.

Where it’s appropriate, the Council may consider departing from these practices to give effect to the Housing Policy we adopted in 2016. This could result in the land being used to deliver the outcomes of that policy, like selling land to other housing providers for them to develop and/or deliver social and affordable housing. The specific circumstances related to a property may also give rise to a departure e.g. where the adjoining owner is the only logical purchaser.

Before we can do this for the five properties that are either reserves or parks, we must undertake formal consultation. This involves a greater level of detail being provided about each property and why we are proposing to dispose of it, and the reasonably practicable options that have been considered. There are also additional process requirements for land which is reserve under the Reserves Act 1977.

We are currently seeking your views through this Draft LTP on:
- whether we should embark on formal processes for the five properties that are either reserves or parks; and
- whether or not we should dispose of any or all of the other 41 properties.

If you were a former owner of any of the Red Zone Port Hill properties listed, please let us know when providing your feedback.

The hall is single storey, with a combination of timber framed reinforced concrete and unreinforced masonry construction. It was built in 1954 as a war memorial and community centre. It is 15% of New Building Standard (NBS) and classified as an Earthquake Prone Building (EPB) requiring strengthening, repair, or demolition by July 2025. It was previously used as a community hall before it was closed after the Canterbury earthquakes.

The hall is also a scheduled heritage building that is categorised as a strategic asset under the Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy, and any decision to dispose of this asset must be explicitly provided for in the LTP.

In its existing condition, given its heritage and EPB status, and the significant cost required to strengthen and repair the hall (estimated at $2.3 million), its market value is likely to be nominal in the range of $10,000–$20,000. Numerous repairs have been carried out on the hall since 2011. However, the hall continues to deteriorate. There is adequate provision of other existing community facilities in the immediate area.

The YRRA has been promoting the hall’s retention and reinstatement as a community facility and are committed to raising the funds necessary to repair and operate the building. An expression of interest was initiated in 2021 with YRRA being the only registered practical interest. Ownership of the building by YRRA is essential for it to maximise access to funding sources.

The proposal is to lease the land for $1 a year and gift the Yaldhurst Memorial Hall at 524 Pound Road to the YRRA for the of $1, with the following conditions:

• YRRA strengthening and repairing the building to a minimum of 34% NBS (so it can be removed from the national earthquake prone register of buildings).
• The repairs and strengthening being to a code compliant standard, ready for occupation (the scope and standard of to be determined and approved with, and at, the Council’s discretion) within five years from the date of transferring ownership from the Council to the YRRA.
• The repair and subsequent operation and maintenance of the building being at no cost to the Council (including cost of securing any necessary consents and code of compliance);
• The Council having a first right of refusal option to take the building back if the YRRA fail to perform the repair strengthening above.

YRRA intends to operate the building as a community facility. The proposal has no impact on rates and no debt. The building will remain as a scheduled heritage building. Repairs and maintenance will still need to meet all relevant requirements in the District Plan. YRRA use of the land will be subject to the terms of their ground lease with the Council. The Council’s community board governance teams will monitor YRRA’s ability to fund and complete the repair works within five years and YRRA’s subsequent operation of the hall.

There are no identified conflicts of interest arising from the proposal.