Final attempt to find owner of land

Could this be yours?... An empty quarter-acre section of land between this fence and Leask Rd (shown), at Omakau may be declared abandoned if not claimed by a rightful owner by July 10. Photo by Rosie Manins.

The 860sqm section was last registered to Dennis William Neild, who had inherited it in 1963 after the death of Mary Dickie, a Wellington spinster.

She had acquired it from her father, John Stewart Dickie, of Clyde, who bought the land in 1880.

Inquiries by the Otago Daily Times showed the death of Mr Neild, a solicitor of Martinborough, in the North Island, was registered in 1975.

The CODC confirmed the land had a 2007 rateable valuation of $7500 and had incurred rates of $381 this financial year.

Council records did not show exactly when the last rates were collected, and staff said the amount owed was commercially sensitive and not publicly available.

Before 1996, the property met the council's policy for having rates wiped, as the land value was so low it was deemed uneconomic to collect rates.

Since then, the section had been incurring normal rates, calculated on an annual basis.

CODC property officer Brian Taylor said this was the council's last attempt to find a rightful owner of the section, which was first advertised in the same context on December 23, 2004.

He said the rural resource area-zoned section was notified as abandoned along with about 22 other sections throughout the district at the time, most of which had since been settled.

Under a section of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002, the council can have land within its jurisdiction declared abandoned after one month of its notice of intent to do so.

Mr Taylor said if no-one claimed the land, the council would take its case to the district court, which could formally declare it abandoned and give the council rights to sell it by tender or auction, or lease it.

"We've to convince the court we've done everything possible to locate the rightful owner," he said.

Mr Taylor said, if allowed, the council would likely sell the land and claim its costs.

"Any surplus goes into the public trustee so the council doesn't make any money from it," he said.

Mr Taylor said he "wasn't even entertaining the thought" of what the land would be sold for.

Those wishing to claim the land have until July 10 to contact council chief executive Phil Melhopt.

The council has not had any interest in the land to date.

- rosie.manins@odt.co.nz