NZ: 30-year lease offered to Springfield Golf Course
A new 30-year lease will be offered to a golf club at the centre of heated council debates.
While a controversial “guillotine clause” remains, Rotorua Lakes Council’s newly agreed lease offer rules out using Springfield Golf Course for housing. It only allows alternate uses that would keep it a green space.
The debate during a more-than five-hour council meeting had heated moments, with one councillor apologising for calling a comment “bulls***” and the process a “sham”.
The Springfield Golf Club exclusively uses the council’s largest freehold section, about 34 hectares.
Its 18-hole course was established in 1948 and the council bought the land in 1965. The club’s lease will expire in 2027 and it has no right of renewal.
In recent years, the council has debated using the land for sportsgrounds as part of the proposed Westbrook Sports and Recreation Precinct or for housing, sparking community backlash.
Meetings to discuss the lease offer this year have produced decision delays and heated debate, with one described as a “circus”.
In Wednesday’s meeting, councillors were presented with five lease offer options. None included a right for renewal.
The council voted for a 30-year lease with an initial 10-year period with no alternative use clause. After year eight the council could give two years’ notice for an alternative use of other recreation or stormwater mitigation, requiring public consultation.
The lease would not require public consultation.
