Guess what you own?

Debrin Foxcroft | 6th February 2010

The council has just - quietly - spent $1.34m of your money to buy a house on Lake Pupuke. Now it's going to pull it down. Debrin Foxcroft reports.

Lawrence Hukui thinks $1.34 million for a piece of land is a pretty steep price. When the council is spending that much of ratepayers' money for a house beside Lake Pupuke that it will pull down, he thinks it's bordering on ridiculous.

At least once a week, Mr Hukui travels from Manukau to the North Shore to dive into the freshwater lake.

While the matter is filed under "Confidential Business", North Shore City Council confirmed to The Aucklander that it has bought land "in the Lake Pupuke area" for its parks department to develop. It is vague on details, saying it wants to protect the tenant's privacy.

The council has a policy of buying land in coastal areas for reserves and parks. The Lake Pupuke home is one of several multi-million dollar properties that it's bought recently.

These include two properties in Mairangi Bay - one for $3 million, the other for $4.1 million. The council also paid $3.1 million for a house and land at Murrays Bay.

As far as Mr Hukui is concerned, the Shore has plenty of parks and reserves and he believes the city council should be pouring money into other areas.

"They could be spending that money on lots of things - on putting more  life back into the lake, for example," he says.

Greg Smale's home has a view across the water. The businessman says residents have heard talk of the land purchase and the reasons behind the expensive investment.

"We hear rumours," he says. "But I haven't heard anything definite.

"I understand the council is trying to increase the length of the walkway. But there are obviously people who don't want a walkway around the whole lake, people who would be a bit peeved to have strangers walking in front of their properties."

Alan Davies, valuer and former Lake Pupuke resident, says any land near the lake would be an expensive buy for the council.

"A 1200sq m block of land in the area recently sold for $1.8 million, and that's without any house on it."

Mr Davies owned two pieces of land around the lake before selling up and moving further north. "It's one of the nicest places to live on the Shore," he says. "There's privacy, security and all you can hear at night is a duck going 'honk honk'."

That would change if more of the lake shore was opened up to the public.

"There was talk of a walkway around the lake when I lived there. It's a reasonable proposition but I don't see it happening.

"This sort of thing does have an effect on the price of property. But, that said, it's no good buying bits of land around the lake if you don't link them," says Mr Davies.

The council's property officer, Stuart Bagley,  confirms it has bought land in the Lake Pupuke area.

"It has been negotiated on behalf of the parks department. The details and final use of the land still need to be worked through.

"We are currently not able to give too much in the way of details as there is still a tenant on the property."

Mr Bagley says the council wishes to give the tenant some privacy until they leave.

"At this stage, there is no final timetable but, once it is vacated, there will be a demolition to open up the land.

"This land purchase is part of a long-standing plan to improve public access link around the lake.

"At the moment, there is a lot of private property and just a few reserves."

Born in the boom

Lake Pupuke is one of the Auckland region's oldest volcanoes. It is an explosion crater,
which forms a basin rather than a hill or mountain. When volcanic activity ceased, the
crater filled with fresh water, forming a 107ha lake. According to the Auckland Regional
Council, Pupuke is short for Pupukemoana and means "overflowing lake''. In 1884, Lake
Pupuke was tapped to supply water to Devonport Borough. The water supply quickly proved insufficient and the old pumphouse (now a theatre) ceased to operate in 1944. Today, the lake is a popular recreation spot.