The council has confirmed legal proceedings concerning the 20ha block of land that was formerly the site of the town’s oxidation ponds on Ballantyne Rd are before the High Court.
Former landowners Dale and Angus Gordon, who now live in Auckland, claim the council was technically obliged to offer the land, which was acquired from them under public works legislation to build the oxidation ponds, back to them once it was no longer being used for the purpose it was acquired.
Wastewater treatment facilities on the site have been decommissioned, the land remediated and the council plans to establish a community sports hub there.
The Gordons left the district in 2013.
In 2022, Mrs Gordon told the ODT the council’s behaviour was "presumptuous".
"The procedure has not been followed. The council knows how to get in touch with us. We told the council where we were going. That land was never, ever signed off.
"There’s poisons in that land. It would be heinous to make it into a sports ground," she said.
There had always been hope the land would come back to the family.
They had sought legal advice and debated the issue previously with the council, when Clive Geddes was the mayor and Duncan Field the chief executive.
They had not taken it further then because the council had not decided what it would do with the ponds, she said at the time.
The council argues it has legal authority to repurpose the former oxidation ponds for community sport and recreation.
In 2022, a spokesman said the council required the land for another public work, namely sport and recreation, so there was no reason or need to ask the former landowner that question.
Council chief executive Mike Theelen said recently the council recognised there was a strong public interest in the site’s future as a sports hub. However, any planning and investment decisions must be made carefully while proceedings were under way.
"Council has filed its statement of defence and engaged specialist legal counsel to assist in defending the claim. The matter will proceed through the usual court process and therefore no further comment will be made until the proceedings have been concluded."
— Allied Media
