Dannevirke: House, section sold for camp ground

Auctioneer Wayne McDonagh, of The Professionals, and Kathy Dever-Tod, manager of Tararua District Council's assets group, after two council properties were sold. Photo / Christine McKay

It was a case of win-win for Tararua District Council ratepayers last Friday afternoon, when two properties sold at auction, putting further money into the development of the camping ground.

Up for auction was the 989 square metre former camping ground manager's home on George St, along with an adjacent 1982sq m section with rural views.

After the council put a new manager's home in the camping ground, it was decided to subdivide the house and section and sell them to provide more funding for the camping ground, council's asset group manager Kathy Dever-Tod said.

And there is even more money in council's coffers after auctioneer Wayne McDonagh of Professionals Dannevirke waived the fee for conducting both sales.

"Because it's for the council and our earnings come from the Tararua ratepayers, we believe waiving the fee means all the money from the sales can go into camping ground development," Mr McDonagh told the Dannevirke News.

Bidding for the three-bedroom house which had been recently painted and wallpapered by the council, began with a bid of $140,000. With Mr McDonagh urging potential buyers to appreciate this was a buy and move in property, a $150,000 bid was made and the house was sold.

Bidding on the section, described by Mr McDonagh as "magnificent", started with $20,000, bidding lifting to $27,000, then $30,000.

"Where would you buy a better section? The views can never be built out," Mr McDonagh said. However, with bidding stalled at $30,000, Ms Dever-Tod and Mr McDonagh had discussions, before the top bidder agreed to lift his bid to $32,000 and the section was sold.

"This was absolutely a good result," Ms Dever-Tod said. "Someone has got a very good house and in my mind the section was good value too."

All the proceeds from the sales will go into further work at the camping ground, including a set of automatic gates at the top of the lower Domain, allowing campers to come and go after hours while providing security.

With the camping ground very busy, with the cabins full, it's a credit to manager Kim Spooner, Ms Dever-Tod said. "She's done a fantastic job and even last Monday there were seven camper vans, one tent and all the cabins full. The camping ground is full over Easter too. This is a big turnaround."