(NZ) Auckland Council withdraws application to liquidate Gulf Harbour Country Club
Auckland Council says it has withdrawn its application in the High Court to liquidate the owner of the abandoned Gulf Harbour Country Club, after receiving payment for unpaid debts totalling more than $25,000.
The Whangaparāoa Peninsula course, which hosted the New Zealand Golf Open in 2005 and 2006, was closed “with immediate effect” in July last year.
The club has since been destroyed by two large fires within three days of each other, which officials said were likely caused by an “incendiary”.
On June 20, Auckland Council applied to liquidate Long River Investments Corporation Limited for unpaid rates totalling $18,386.54, which then rose to $25,804.56.
In a statement to 1News yesterday, the council said it had received payment of Long River‘s unpaid rates.
“Therefore, we will be withdrawing the liquidation application in the High Court [on] Friday, August 16, 2024.”
The council said it would seek a costs order against the company of around $3000 for costs related to filing and serving the application, and continued to seek repayment of demolition costs of the club totalling more than $200,000.
Auckland Council chief executive Phil Wilson, who recently wrote to owner Greg Olliver and golf club director Wayne Bailey on July 12 to demand costs be paid back, has not met with the company’s director or owners.
At a public meeting at Whangaparāoa College on Thursday evening, hosted by the Keep Whangaparāoa’s Green Spaces (KWGS) group, legal adviser Chris Geyde said the strongly-worded letter made it “very, very clear” that Olliver was “between a rock and a hard place”.
Geyde said the letter was “absolutely a key step in the right direction”, and that KWGS wanted the council to take further enforcement action through the courts.
“The next issue KWGS want to look at is the approximately $220,000 that was spent demolishing the clubhouse following the fire.
