A Roxburgh couple with plans to alter and improve their Naseby property, the historic Masonic Halland shops, found they could not get a building consent because part of the section was owned by the Central Otago District Council.
Part of the improvements relate to a building which straddles the land in the two different titles and the council cannot give building consent unless the land is under one name.
The land owned by the council covers 76sq m, about a quarter of the size of the main section, and was thought to have been set aside for road-widening.
Council corporate services manager Susan Finlay said if the council did not sell the $700 plot to the couple, they would struggle to do anything with it and the building would continue to deteriorate.
The Maniototo Community Board has recommended the council sell the land to the couple so they can carry out the building work required to preserve the building.
"We have no option but to sell," board chairman Barry Becker said.
