Northcote For Sale

23 June 2015

Lorene Pigg, Dr Grant Gillon and John Gillon – Elected Members of the Kaipatiki Local Board

Auckland Council Officers have confirmed that the land under the Northcote Town Centre has been earmarked for sale over a ten year period.
• Board members John Gillon, Dr Grant Gillon and Lorene Pigg were shocked to learn that this strategic asset has been identified and programmed for sale with no consultation from the local community.
• The Northcote Town Centre has earned the ratepayers millions of dollars in rental income, reducing the rates burden, yet this has been disregarded.
• Funds will not be re-invested specifically in the local area, despite the land being paid for by North Shore ratepayers
• If developed, apartments up to six stories high over the site can be built without consultation with the wider community. Higher stories can be built with Council discretion.
Land under Northcote Town Centre Confirmed for Sale

Kaipatiki Local Board members Dr Grant Gillon, Lorene Pigg and John Gillon were shocked to learn that the Northcote Town Centre land has been identified for sale over the next ten years. Council officers were not prepared to discuss how far through the 10 year period the properties' sale process was.
The Auckland Council currently owns the land under the Northcote Town Centre, and the buildings are owned by individual owners, which lease the land from the Council. The Northcote shopping centre was the first municipally-owned shopping centre in New Zealand, commencing in 1959. The land was originally purchased by North Shore ratepayers, and has since provided Councils with millions of dollars in lease revenue.
“In a time of 16.1% average rates rises in Kaipatiki, these assets should be held to relieve the current residents of extensive rates rises,” states Dr Grant Gillon.

North Shore Ratepayers get the Short Straw – Yet Again

This is a central, large piece of valuable land, right in the centre of Northcote, with a 2014 Government Valuation greater than $33m. In the Auckland Council’s long term plan, the Council has an aim of generating revenue of approx. $580m from land sales.
“Once again, the North Shore ratepayers are subsidising the rest of Auckland, this time through asset sales,” states board member Lorene Pigg. “These assets were bought for, and paid for by the North Shore ratepayers, and any funds from the sale of local assets should be invested locally, not to pay for the Mayor's pet projects, which have little direct benefit to the area”.

Information Not Clear

Lorene Pigg, John Gillon and Dr Grant Gillon were also surprised at the extent that officers went to hide this information within the Local Board papers.
"We have asked questions about the potential sale for some time now and always received assurances that the land was not programmed for sale," stated John Gillon.
But recently, Lorene Pigg noted “The sites were marked as ‘Project Retain’ which wouldn’t normally raise any questions from Board members. I don’t understand why this couldn’t have been clearly marked as ‘For Sale’, or what the intention was.” Local residents have commented that this reminds them of George Orwells book 1984, with “doublespeak” language and hidden meanings.
Land of this size being identified for sale is rare this close to the city, surely this is a strategic asset of significant value for the city to hold on to.

Community Consultation

The sale of this town centre will forego the opportunity of the community to have any input into how they want their community to develop. Under the Auckland Unitary Plan, this land is zoned to allow development up to six stories high without any consultation with the wider community. This will have a significant impact on a well-developed, existing community. John Gillon notes that the local primary school already has pre-fabs (temporary) buildings on their field to cope with the population increases, and understands that the local intermediate is planning similar measures. “I'm not sure how the infrastructure in the area will be able to keep up.”
Lorene Pigg noted that the Council Officers also mentioned that presentations are to be made to the Auckland Property Board regarding the development of Housing New Zealand in the area. If this is combined with development at the Northcote Town Centre, this makes over 50% of Northcote that will have significant intensification in the very near future. “This is a very large change for the community, the likes of which an established area, has never been seen before in Auckland. Northcote in 10 years will have a very different face to that it has now – I only hope that the local community are able to have a say in its future”.

ENDS

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