Land on Bannockburn Rd recently rezoned under Plan Change 18 will be developed by the Central Otago District Council and used to pay for the new Cromwell Memorial Hall.

At a meeting last week councillors agreed to use proceeds from the endowment land - rezoned from rural to industrial - to pay for any outstanding debt, as it also progressed the land investment strategy for Cromwell.

Group manager - business support Saskia Righarts told council work on the strategy was underway and would come back to the Cromwell Community Board (CCB) in May, alongside plans for the Bannockburn land.

The council would still have final sign off as it involved land sales, and staff would be meeting with consultants on March 11 to progress it further.

Cr Stu Duncan questioned since they were getting close to elections in October, could that have any impact on the decision, as a new community board could have a different perspective of it.

Cr Martin McPherson reminded everyone about districtisation and the assurances the Cromwell community had requested about not using proceeds from the endowment land elsewhere.

Saskia said the land investment strategy work may be used for future conversations as well, and Cr Tracy Paterson agreed the learnings from that could be used across the district.

The CCB has already supported the land investment strategy, both at its December 9 meeting and then on February 10 when it made minor amendments to the draft.

The purpose of the strategy was to consider the growth of Cromwell that provided for residential and commercial demand, and which respected Cromwell’s attributes and unique location. 

It was also about continuing to support established industries and existing businesses and promotion of a diversified and resilient local economy.

Meanwhile, the Cromwell Memorial Hall is tracking well in what staff said was one of council’s biggest projects ever undertaken.

Property and facilities manager Garreth Robinson told the council it was still sitting well under budget ($44 million compared to $46 million), and forecast to be completed two months ahead of time.

The memorial garden scope has been confirmed and the cultural elements were being finalised.

Precast panels continued to be installed along with structural steel for the auditorium.

Garreth said in his capex report, the seismic design was approaching closure and building services such as fire sprinklers and air conditioning were underway.

Have a story to share?

Contact [email protected]