Deadline looms for golf course decision

To lift or not to lift? That's the question Papakura councillors will vote on at an extraordinary council meeting on March 16.

Their decision will determine the fate of the nine-hole Papakura golf course.

A vote to lift an encumbrance placed on the land by the council will give its owners, Score Trustees, the green light to redevelop the course into a retirement village and four-hole golf course.

Local residents have fiercely resisted the company’s bid to lift the encumbrance saying they’re fighting to keep a promise the Papakura District Council made when it sold the land in 1993.

And by the time submissions closed last week the council had received more than 430 and a 1200-signature petition.

Group spokesman Peter Bates says if the council votes to lift the encumbrance they’ll have "a very large fight on their hands".

Council spokesman Mark Baker says March 9 and 10 have been set aside to hear from people who made submissions.

The council is trying to contact all the submitters to give them the chance to present their submissions, he says.

The extraordinary council meeting on March 16 starts at 9.30am.

See www.papakura.govt.nz for more information.

- © Fairfax NZ News