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Two years after it was last mooted, the sale of Wellsford’s Harrison Street carpark is set to go ahead this year, according to Auckland Council’s property management division, Panuku.
Portfolio management director Ian Wheeler maintained that the 48-space carpark between Rodney Street and the railway was not required, either for parking or “strategic transport purposes”. He said the land had been offered back to former owner KiwiRail, in accordance with the Public Works Act, but that offer had been declined.
“Panuku is now progressing with the sale of the site and is looking to put it on the open market later this year,” he said.
He added that the land’s car parking designation, which would have precluded the site being used for any other purpose, had been lifted in 2017.
The decision to sell the land caused a storm of protest when Council first announced its plans in August, 2017. Residents and businesses said the carpark was an important off-street resource that allowed people to park safely within easy reach of the main street. They said Council surveys in 2008 and 2015 that found Wellsford was well provided for when it came to town centre parking were both outdated and unrepresentative.
