Northland Landcorp sections on market

It's dubbed the biggest single sale of residential land ever seen in Northland and so far interest for sections in a Government-owned development in the Bay of Islands is coming from within the region and Aucklanders, the man leading the sale says.

Landcorp Estates is selling 28 sites at its Wakelins Riverfront Estates at Haruru Falls, near Paihia, with Chester Rendell, from Bayleys Kerikeri saying the company's eagerness to get out of the development should lead to some good prices for the lots.

The sections are part of a 97-hectare property which was once a sheep and beef farm. The farmland is owned by Landcorp Estates, which has completed the subdivision zoning process and Mr Rendell said the lots would be up for auction on March 12.

The sections range in size from 1ha through to almost 28ha and their valuations range from $240,000 to $850,000.

"But I think that at the prices they are likely to go for they will be very good buying. Landcorp is committed to selling and will meet the market," Mr Rendell said.

He said there were no Treaty of Waitangi issues relating to the land and so far most of the interest had come from Northlanders, with the rest from Auckland.

Mr Rendell said subdivision development was not Landcorp's core business and it wanted the sections sold. They had been on the market for a couple of years and it had been decided an auction would be the best way to sell them now.

Most of the sections are conservation blocks with a high emphasis on environmental and ecological values. Two of the plots have residential dwellings on them from previous farming activity.

Far North District Council bylaws set up to protect the lifestyle environment of the Wakelins development prohibit any further subdivision of sites, thereby protecting buyers from housing intensification, Mr Rendell said.

He believed the large-scale subdivision was the biggest in Northland to be brought to the market in one single auction campaign.

Mr Rendell said that in preparation for the selloff, a residents' association body had been established to support the ecological infrastructure of the Wakelins development, and a number of environmental protection covenants had been implemented.

"Wakelins Riverfront Estate has riparian zones along the Waitangi River frontage. The subdivision includes wetlands, flora plantings, as well as the establishment of open-space landscaping to separate the sections. Native bush within the conservation areas can't be cut down without the formal consent of the FNDC."