Tauranga City Council land sales are lagging $8.3 million behind target, with question marks around future sales of reserves after the council decided not to sell a property in Darraghs Rd.
Revenue from land sales will reach $21.8m for the three years ending June 30 - $8.3m behind forecasts.
Council's city development manager Dean Williams was updating councillors on the first three years of a seven-year sale programme that was budgeted to yield $49.5m.
Yesterday's finance committee meeting learned that land sales in the current financial year would end up about $2.8m or 38 per cent behind budget.
Mr Williams said a number of issues had significantly impacted on sales this year, particularly the re-programming of the timeframe to develop Sulphur Point's Marine Precinct and delays to sales of properties in Bell Rd, Papamoa, the Glasgow St industrial area and Newton St, Mount Maunganui.
"A number of these land sales are likely to conclude early within the next financial year."
A report taken in the public-excluded section of the meeting outlined the issues that had impacted on land sales this year.
Councillor Rick Curach sought more transparency and a return to the days when land sales were publicly reported via the "documents under seal" section of council agendas.
Mr Williams' report said the recent council decision not to proceed with the sale of a 531sq m reserve in Darraghs Rd had prompted staff to revisit some of the reserve land previously identified as available for sale. It would take into account issues such as levels of service and future growth.
In 2015 the council reviewed its 2012 plan to sell 40 properties and enter into partial sales or joint ventures for two other land holdings.
Mr Williams said the 2015 review resulted in 60 properties being identified as surplus and available for potential disposal. Seven of these properties were removed when the list was reported to the council in November 2015.
Further investigations have indicated that nine properties were no longer surplus, largely because of future requirements for public works.
However, two additional properties were identified as being available for sale - the 8100sq m Zespri block in Maunganui Rd that sold for $10.1 million in 2015 and the $350,000 net return from selling nearly half a hectare for TECT's community hub in the Historic Village.
The first of the big ticket items sold to reduce debt and boost economic development was the 7640sq m Marsh St site to Pollock and Sons Crane Hire. It formerly housed Placemakers and Monier Tiles and had a rateable value of $3 million. The nearby Mobil service station site in Chapel St was still owned by the council.
Mr Williams revealed that he was progressing a number of land sales, particularly larger council-owned properties on a number of sites. A further review of land sales may take place for the 2018-28 Long Term Plan.
He explained that budget forecasts differed from actual sales because they did not include the costs of sales such as professional fees and officers' time.
Except for reserves, the council's chief executive Garry Poole had delegated authority to execute sale and purchase agreements.
* It was reported in error that the Mount Maunganui Shopping Centre's Phoenix carpark was one of the Tauranga City Council land sales that failed to eventuate. The site was bought for a public open space using $4.2 million of development contributions collected under the council's development contributions policy specifically for land purchase in the Mount infill area.
Notable land sale that failed to eventuate
- The greenbelt bordering Takitimu Drive
- Tauranga downtown's Aspen Reserve