On a 986sq m site in the centre of Wanaka, on Helwick St, the old police station was retired from duty last Friday after its occupants packed up and moved to their new premises on Ballantyne Rd.
New Zealand Police national manager, asset optimisation, Andrew MacArthur said as the new station was now occupied, the Police Executive would be asked to declare the old property surplus, before it was transferred to Land Information New Zealand (Linz) for disposal action.
''There are some admin matters that need to be agreed between ourselves and Linz before transfer can take place. This will take approximately two months,'' Mr MacArthur said.
''Linz will then go through the usual section 40 process, which will result in either a right of first refusal to the relevant iwi group, landbanking by OTS [Office of Treaty Settlements], or a sale on the open market.''
Getting to the stage of open market sale could take six to 12 months from the date of transfer to Linz.
Wanaka sub-area commander Senior Sergeant Allan Grindell said last week he understood the Helwick St station had been built in the mid-1970s.
However, after reviewing police records relating to the site, southern district business services officer Peter Esquilant, of Dunedin, told the Otago Daily Times the station was built in 1971. It had been extended at least three times since then to house continually increasing numbers of staff.
There was history suggesting the New Zealand Police had owned the site as far back as the 1950s, although there was nothing to confirm that in the documents.
