Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Act comes into force

Efforts to turn overgrown former Palmerston North bowling club land into housing are a step closer thanks to a new law.

The Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Act will come into force after passing its third reading with no opposition in Parliament this week.

The law allows the Palmerston North City Council to change the status of a 1.5-hectare section of land on the corner of Fitzherbert Avenue and Park Road.

Until this amendment, the law protected the land’s reserve status.

It has sat empty for more than 15 years and could be rezoned for housing.

There is opposition to this from green space advocates, who say they will continue to fight such moves, and the council has not yet made a definitive statement about what it wants to do.

The council first tried to get a law change through parliament in 2007, but that attempt was abandoned due to divisions of opinion.

Chief council planning officer David Murphy said after this week’s third reading that the council was yet to make a “formal decision about sale or development of the site”.

“Officers will engage further with [the] council on this matter alongside a broader piece of work regarding [the] council’s role in property development.

“If the site is developed for housing a District Plan change will be required to rezone part of the site to residential. This will involve public consultation and a detailed assessment of environmental effects.”

The majority of submissions to the Environment Select Committee were opposed to the law change, including from Marilyn Bulloch.

Bulloch, of Palmerston North, said she and the Railway Land Action Group, a green space lobby of which she was a member, would continue to make submissions opposing development on the site, known as the Huia Street Reserve.

“I’m disappointed that despite the number of submissions against it they want ahead,” she said of the parliamentary vote.

Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere, of Labour, said the new law supported local democracy and the prospect of increased housing and development in the city.

“Given the constant need for housing in New Zealand, this positive change paves the way for easing the process of housing development in Palmerston North and promotes the productive use of vacant land for the benefit of the local community,” he said.