Otago port land policy debated

Such were the reported comments of councillor Gerry Eckhoff in a finance committee meeting to consider the port company’s three-year statement of corporate intent.

“[The ORC] is a publicly-owned organisation, not a corporate [operating] for a bunch of shareholders … we need to drive down the costs of businesses establishing,” he reportedly said.

It is understood the port company’s widespread land holdings have been a contentious issue for many years, with businesses and developers of the viewpoint that insufficient land was available to promote expansion and/or was priced too expensively.

However, Port Otago chief executive Geoff Plunket reportedly countered that his company had sold off over a third of its leasehold land around Dunedin since 1998.