John Oliver is seeking a permanent home at the former Murphy's farm for the RDA. Photo Andy Campbell
A permanent home for Ōtorohanga Riding for the Disabled has been formally agreed to by the district council accepting the gift of a 9.3ha farm over flat grassland just outside town.
Colin and Dianne Murphy’s property in Otewa Rd will be sold to John Oliver who will give the land to the Ōtorohanga council and become a permanent home for Riding for the Disabled, and other community groups.
The project was presented to the council in the public forum of the March 2023 council meeting. The council’s task was to decide how to go forward with one of two options.
The original gift was for a permanent RDA home and equestrian centre and rural park.
At the June meeting Cr Rodney Dow suggested there was enough room for both equestrian activities and a comprehensive multi-purpose sports/recreation park.
The process is a bit of a gear change for the council which was about to consult its ratepayers about developments of existing public spaces at the domain and the Island Reserve.
This is now paused for about six months while consideration is given to exploring the RDA plus multi-sport option.
Mayor Max Baxter acknowledged council chief advisor Ross McNeil for the work that went into preparing an options report for councillors.
“We are talking about a 30-year vision and whichever path council decides to go down, whatever information goes out to the community, we need to make it clear that we are talking about a long-term proposal here,” McNeil said.
“Aside from the RDA for example, any other options and development opportunities for the land are in my view going to take time to work through. Some of those may never come to fruition.”
Baxter also acknowledged the Olivers and the Murphys for this opportunity.
“I think it’s a very exciting opportunity for the town and the district, going ahead, and it will be interesting to see what comes out of the public consultation.”
The council budgeted $50,000 for the now delayed study.
Cr Kit Jeffries said discussion about the cost of a feasibility study was a red herring.
“When you look at the value of that land and compare that to the cost to getting a feasibility study, its peanuts,” he said. “There is a possibility as Cr Dow has said that we may need some external funding for that, but at a pinch there’s probably no reason why we couldn’t loan fund it and spread it over 10 years at $5000 a year – peanuts.”
Cr Katrina Christison said the public need to be involved in the discussion because the project would cost millions.
The philanthropists advised that the land could be held in trust for up to three years to enable preliminary work like consenting, due diligence, feasibility testing.
McNeil said the suggestion that the property could become a multi-use recreation park greatly increased potential risks for the council.
The equestrian focus of the Rural Park concept meant the project was outside council’s activity/service delivery functions. Providing space for sports activities was a core activity of council and, because of its potential scale, the responsibility for leading the development of a multi-purpose sports park could be expected to sit with council, he said.
Costs could include water and wastewater and possibly stormwater services being provided to/across the property by council. A feasibility study would assess those risks.
