That is the advice being given to Otago regional councillors in a new report from council staff.
The report, which provides information on the risks posed by natural hazards to the racing track site, will be presented to councillors at a full-council meeting tomorrow.
Councillors requested the further information in March in order to make an informed decision when considering development proposals for the site.
The Forbury Park Trotting Club announced its decision to sell the South Dunedin park in February this year.
It led to speculation over what the 12ha site would be used for, including the possibility of a housing development.
The report said, while there was increasing pressure to provide housing in Otago, where that housing could be located had become more "problematic".
"The easier sites to develop have already been developed, and for a range of reasons, other sites are being considered or becoming available."
Staff have set out an approach to managing natural hazards risks throughout Otago and how those principles could guide decision-making on future land used at green-field or brown-field sites, including Forbury Park.
While information now available for the Forbury Park site was not site-specific, it was enough to conclude that future redevelopment of the site would require "very careful" consideration of natural hazards, the report said.
Plans would need to take into account the likely changes to the physical environment of the site in the next 100 years or longer, and climate change added "another dimension" to risk management.
Staff said councillors should support development proposals that envisaged the possibility of using the site, or part of the site, to mitigate the flood hazard for the wider South Dunedin.
"It is essential to use remaining green-field or brown-field sites to create improved resilience of the wider community, better ability to cope with risks posed by seismic hazards, heavy rainfall and elevated sea-level events and therefore reduce risk for the city as a whole," the report said.
Green-field or brown-field sites had the potential to increase risk of hazards if used in the same way as the surrounding residential land.
But risk to the city could be decreased if the site, or part of the site, was used to improve the ability of the wider area to cope with natural hazards, the report said.
Councillors will be asked to endorse the report’s position on potential future redevelopment at Forbury Park during tomorrow’s meeting in Queenstown.
