Have your say on how Tauranga City Council buys and sells property

An aerial view of Tauranga. Photo / File

Tauranga City Council buys, sells, leases or transfers property for a number of different reasons and now it is seeking feedback on those decisions.

The draft Acquisitions and Disposals Policy is now open for submissions.

The reasons for the buying and selling of property by the council include public works such as roads and other infrastructure, green space or recreational purposes, and managing land identified for future public use.

The buying and selling of property by council is called acquisition and disposal, the council said in a media statement.

There are currently three policies that set out how the council manages this. The opportunity to streamline this to one single policy was identified as part of the council's regular review process.

General manager of strategy and growth Christine Jones said the council wanted to ensure they delivered the best value to ratepayers when acquiring and disposing of property, and the new policy provided a consistent and transparent approach.

"One of the main changes we're proposing in the new draft policy is that mana whenua will be offered a right of first refusal (RFR) on some properties sold by council," she said.

"Mana whenua will have the opportunity to purchase council property at market value before being offered for sale through an open market process. However, not all properties will fit this criteria and this can only happen after any statutory obligations are met.

"The inclusions of the right of first refusal recognises the role mana whenua holds in building, protecting and celebrating Tauranga Moana, its environment and its people and acknowledges their partnership with council, while still providing a fair value for ratepayers."

The draft policy was approved for consultation by the council in December 2020. An overview of the proposed draft policy, the draft policy and an online submission form are available at www.tauranga.govt.nz/ADP.

Paper copies are also available at the customer service centre at 91 Willow St and in libraries. Consultation runs until 5pm on April 15. Council will use the community's feedback to propose a final policy for adoption by council, likely mid to late 2021.