Reservoir to go on old hospital site
After being on the market for nearly a year, the old hospital site on Napier hill has sold – again.
Although resource consent was granted for two 28.5-metre towers, which would each have 18 apartments, as well as 21 terraced homes, six standalone houses, and five freehold lots, the new owner has other ideas.
Napier City Council has bought the land for $11.35 million, and used it as a new drinking water supply reservoir.
A council spokesman said the Enfield Road reservoir, also based on the hill, was nearing the end of its life and needed replacing. Its current site, the hospital land and several others had been investigated and assessed for their availability, capacity and ease of development.
Developer Templeton Group previously owned the land and its chief executive, Nigel McKenna, said the council had approached Templeton Group, about the importance of the site.
‘‘Given that this site has been a long-held Government asset which provided health care support to the community for many years, a return to council ownership for the site to maintain its role as an infrastructure asset that supports its community going forward seemed appropriate,’’ McKenna said.
‘‘While we’ve made a considerable investment in development plans and are disappointed we cannot proceed with the development, we are pleased we were able to achieve a result that benefits Napier City Council, Mana Ahuriri and the wider community into the future.’’
Napier mayor Kirsten Wise said the purchase provided an opportunity for co-design with local mana whenua.
‘‘It is an ideal spot for us to tell the story of Mataruahou [Napier Hill], given it is a significant and historic site,’’ she said.
With nearby land being part of the Deed of Settlement between the Crown and Ahuriri Hapu¯, represented through Mana Ahuriri, council said there were opportunities for them to work together to achieve benefits across both sites.
The management of water was of high interest to Ma¯ori, particularly with regards to upholding tikanga and cultural values, council said.
Planning and construction had not yet begun, but council estimated the project would take several years to undertake, and would possibly be completed by 2024.
Hawke’s Bay District Health Board sold the land for $5.1m in 2011.