On Tuesday, the council considered a proposal to change the designation of some of the land in the harbour area, which would allow for some commercial use in the future.
It comes as the council undertakes a major rejuvenation of the harbour area, ranging from building a destination playground to landscaping and other improvements.
The proposal is to change the status of land along the foreshore - from Oamaru Creek to Sumpter's Wharf (excluding the sites already developed such as McKeown and Graham) and including the Friendly Bay playground - from endowment to reserve and change the railways goods yard land and land alongside Waterfront Rd from reserve to endowment.
Initially, the report caused consternation among some councillors until Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton and deputy mayor Jim Hopkins emphasised the council was not being asked to make a decision on the changes now.
Instead, what was intended was to start public consultation on the proposal.
"This is to start a process to engage the public, and nothing has been predetermined in terms of the whole or individual sites," Cr Hopkins said.
Any decision was "a long way down the track", he said.
The proposal was originally intended to be put out for public consultation in the 2009-19 long-term plan, with the harbour endowment land included in a list of other land throughout the district.
Cr Helen Stead said that, at that time, there was some support for removing the endowment land in the harbour and historic areas from the list and considering them separately.
Cr Peter Garvan said "outside capital" was needed to help redevelop the harbour area because the council could "not fund everything".
Property manager Dougall McIntyre said the use of the harbour area had changed over the past few years. Some of the endowment land was now being used for recreation, while recreation land was being used for commercial purposes, the farmers market held at the goods yard being an example.
In the future, there could be interest in buying some of the land, possibly along the Tyne St frontage of the former goods yard, he said.
The council needed to rationalise its land holdings to utilise them to their best advantage.
Changes would ensure the best harbour frontage land was kept in public ownership for recreation purposes.
They would also ensure land was available for commercial uses as well as some for potential sale.
Apart from public consultation, other processes had to be followed, including consulting the Department of Conservation and Ngai Tahu, he said.
