Discussions on the future of the Dunedin City Council's Harbour Cone block will begin in earnest tomorrow when the steering group, led by Cr Dave Cull, holds its first meeting.
Appointments to the group were finalised last week.
They are writer, environmentalist and former Otago regional councillor Neville Peat, NHNZ film producer Alison Ballance, property developer Mike Coburn, chairwoman of the Otago Peninsula Community Board Irene Scurr, Otakou runanga representative Megan Ellison, Cr Paul Hudson and the Mayor, Peter Chin.
The council decided to buy the 328ha block in January, but has not revealed how much it paid for the property, which had a rateable value of $2.22 million.
Mr Chin has said the reason for the secrecy was because funding issues were still to be worked through and the council did not want publicity to prejudice that.
Dunedin South MP David Benson-Pope, who has been seeking some Government funding for the land, could not say last week whether there would be money in the budget for the project.
He said that, regardless, he would continue to pursue funding.
Cr Cull said the steering group would have the ability to co-opt people as required if extra expertise was needed on aspects of the land's future use, but had tried to avoid the problems which could arise if there were "25 people sitting around the table".
Among the issues to be discussed tomorrow would be the best way of seeking suggestions from the public.
The meetings will not be open to the public, but Cr Cull said he would report regularly on them.
Another issue is whether the council should retain the block in its entirety or sell some parts of it once protections are in place for the wildlife and plants.
Save the Otago Peninsula, which led the campaign for the council to buy the block, has been adamant the whole block should be kept.
