Call to use Wellington City council-owned golf course to ease housing crisis

Building hundreds of houses on a section of the Berhampore Golf Course could relieve pressure on property prices across the city, an economist says.

Property developer Kurt Gibbons, of GibbonsCo, believes 500 medium-density terraced houses could be built on just a quarter of the 90-acre Berhampore Golf Course, which is protected by the Wellington Town Belt Act. Any development of the site would require a law change.

Economist Kirdan Lees of Sense Partners said injecting that amount of supply into the property market could slow the growth of house prices across the city.

Mayor Justin Lester last year stepped in to quash discussion of the course’s fate but one of his opponents in this year’s race, Conor Hill, said he will lobby government to change the legislation.

Hill has proposed halving the 18-hole 37.1 hectare golf course and creating a 9 hectare public recreation space and a 9 hectare housing development with affordable housing and social housing elements. 

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