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This week sees a further twist in the long and complex tale of Gulf Harbour Country Club, as Auckland Council seeks to put the owner, Long River Investments, into liquidation.
The country club was closed almost a year ago and the site largely abandoned by the owner. Vandalism and arson followed, resulting in council stepping in to demolish the unsafe buildings.
Council is owed more than $200,000 by the company for costs incurred in demolition of the damaged buildings following the suspicious fires in May.
On August 6, council advertised that it would ask the High Court to wind up Long River Investments.
A spokesperson says that council initially applied to liquidate Long River Investments for unpaid rates, following the company’s failure to satisfy a demand for $18,386. That proceeding was commenced on June 20, by which time the debt had risen to $25,804. The litigation costs council will incur are around $1000. The case comes before the court on Friday, August 16.
A previous attempt to put Long River into liquidation, for the sum of $20,000 by the former café owner, failed when the company came up with the money at the eleventh hour.
In addition, Council has not yet invoiced Long River for the demolition costs of more than $200,000, as it was waiting for a final, accurate total. The spokesperson says that invoice was to be sent to Long River last week. If it goes unpaid, the debt can become a charge on the land, as set out in the Building Act, so that it must be paid before the property can be sold or transferred.
If Long River is liquidated, the costs of the demolition work will be notified to the liquidators, along with the unpaid rates and any other amounts owing to council by Long River, the spokesperson says.
Public meeting this week
Lobby group Keep Whangaparāoa’s Green Spaces (KWGS), which wants to see the site remain as a golf course, is holding a second public meeting this week. Spokesperson Howard Baldwin says the meeting will include discussion about the letter that council chief executive Phil Wilson wrote to Long River Investments (HM July 29) and the next steps. He says there may also be discussion around what could come into play if KWGS becomes aware of any attempt by Long River Investments to fast-track a resource consent via the government’s planned legislation. Both local councillors, Wayne Walker and John Watson, will speak at the meeting and Hibiscus and Bays Local Board chair Alexis Poppelbaum will also attend. The meeting is open to everyone and will be held on Thursday, August 15 at Whangaparāoa College auditorium, at 7pm.
