A recommendation to return Crown land being sought for an Alexandra retirement village will be debated by the Central Otago District Council this week.
The district council will decide at its meeting on Wednesday whether to ratify a previous Vincent Community Board recommendation to return the land to the Crown.
The land - alongside the Clyde-Alexandra highway, to the east of State Highway 8 beside Molyneux Estate - is being sought by the Leaning Rock Village Trust for a retirement village.
Council property officer Tara Bates has recommended the council ratify the community board’s recommendation.
It would see the Crown-derived land, at present held in trust for tree planting and managed by the Central Otago District Council, returned to the Crown, which would then decide what to do with the land.
That would then allow Leaning Rock Village to continue its negotiations for the land.
Leaning Rock is hoping to build its retirement village on an area comprising the Crown land and another area of council freehold land.
Its proposal is for a not-for-profit lifestyle village of two- and three-bedroom villas, one-bedroom apartments and a residential care facility.
It will still need to negotiate with Ngai Tahu for any land returned to the Crown, and need an aged care provider as a partner for the retirement village proposal.
A November report to the community board said the board needed to consider development activity in Alexandra when deciding whether or not to proceed with any other development interests for the land.
The report said the property market had been slow in 2014 and 2015, but in 2016 activity increased and the community board had received a request to release part of the Crown land - the same land sought by Leaning Rock Village - for a 100-lot residential subdivision.
The development of that land would result in growth between State Highway 8 and Dunstan Rd, and a connection to the main town between those roads, Molyneux Park and Alexandra’s recreation hub, the report said.
