Public-private deal in offing for Coromandel beach

New Chums Beach on the Coromandel. Photo / Alan Gibson

A proposal to put the iconic New Chums Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula into public ownership through a private-public deal is being considered by the Department of Conservation.

Prime Minister John Key has confirmed that the Government has received a proposal and he's asked the department to look at it.

Landowners John Darby and George Kerr have put forward what they describe as a unique private-public proposal that could create a new model for coastal development.

Mr Darby said earlier this month they were asking the Government to match their investment in the land.

Prime Minister John Key said the proposal was quite complex. "There's an opportunity, theoretically, for Conservation to acquire it, but it would depend on certain conditions and we would need to, if we did that, satisfy ourselves that that was the best use of funds."

He had asked Conservation for advice on the merits of such a deal and expected a report back early in the New Year.

Mr Darby and Environmental Defence Society chairman Gary Taylor are to front a media conference in Auckland tomorrow to discuss plans for the New Chums Beach.

- NZPA