Should we invest in developing the East Urban Lands?
Map of the proposed development area of the East Urban Lands. *Indicative map only
What do we propose to do?
In the past, Council has sold pieces of land and then relied on developers to spend the money required to make it usable, primarily for housing.
This has been a low-risk approach for Council but it has also meant that we have missed out on gains from developing the land ourselves. Those gains (profits) could then return to the community in the form of extra money for projects or to apply against rates.
We want to know whether the community thinks Council should invest in consenting, design and earthworks for a 6ha area of the East Urban Lands. We anticipate that this work will increase its value. Once the land is developed, Council then has a range of different options available to it. These might include selling the land for a profit to benefit the community, using the land for houses that aren’t currently being provided by the market (for example, smaller homes suitable for retired people or first-home buyers); retaining the land for future growth until the market is stronger, or a mix of all these options.
What are the possible risks and rewards?
The main advantage is that we retain ownership and therefore control of the eventual use of the land. We believe this will deliver the best outcomes for our community, whether by freeing up land for different types of housing, or by on-selling it at a profit and generating a financial return on our investment. We are proposing to fund the cost of any lending for this project from Council’s Strategic Property Reserve.
We anticipate we could do this development work without impacting rates, but we need seed capital of $7.6 million to get started.
This concept could be replicated on other Council-owned land around the district in future.
With any investment, there are risks. These could include project delays and cost increases influencing the ability for this development to be self-funding (without rates impact). On balance, we think these risks can be managed and we are excited about using our land to benefit our community.
