A controversial Waitaki District Council proposal for a residential subdivision overlooking Oamaru has prompted 17 submissions to a parliamentary select committee considering legislation changing the status of the land.
Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean's Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill now before Parliament sought to correct what the council said was an error in 1937 which changed the status of the Forrester Heights subdivision land from endowment to reserve.
The Bill passed its first reading in Parliament on June 13 and was referred to the local government and environment select committee, which advertised it for public submissions closing on July 26.
Of the 17 submissions, 13 opposed the land being reclassified to endowment, which would enable it to be subdivided.
Among the submitters were former Waitaki Mayor Alan McLay (supporting the change), who was mayor when Forrester Heights was proposed to pay part of the $10.3 million upgrade of the Opera House, last year's Labour Party Waitaki electorate candidate Barry Monks (opposed), the Concerned Citizens and Ratepayers of Waitaki group (opposed), Waitaki councillor Helen Stead (opposed), Oamaru chiropractor Ron Sim (opposed) and Te Runanganui O Waitaha me Maata Waka (opposed).
Another submission in opposition from John and Annabel Slater, residents in the area of the subdivision, was signed by 47 others.
Eight of the submission came from four groups or individuals - Concerned Citizens and Ratepayers of Waitaki, Cr Stead, Mr and Mrs Slater, and Te Runanganui O Waitaha, who filed a main submission then supporting documents.
The select committee considered the Bill and submissions for the first time on Thursday and will do so again next Thursday.
It had not yet decided how it would consider the submissions, although Mrs Dean, who served on it, hoped some provision, such as video conferencing, would be made so submitters wanting to be heard did not have to travel to Wellington.
The 22-section, 5.8ha subdivision on Cape Wanbrow overlooking Oamaru, the harbour and the coast was proposed by the council in 2006, with $3 million in profits earmarked to help pay for the Opera House refurbishment.
But, since its inception, it had been dogged by disputes, including over the status of the land, which was designated reserve land under the Reserves Act.
The council believed that was a mistake because the land was originally set aside in 1885 by the government as endowment land for the Oamaru borough.
In July last year, the council put a halt to spending any more money on the subdivision project, but allowed expenditure on the local member's Bill.
The Bill also sought to change the status of other land, including part of the Palmerston Showgrounds, which the council wanted to sell to the current lessees, and a small parcel of land in Oamaru, which it had already sold but whose reserve status it wanted to revoke.
