WDC Bach leases
Christine Woods made this Official Information request to Whangarei District Council
The request was partially successful.
From: Christine Woods
Dear Whangarei District Council,
In 1996 WDC entered into leases with owners of Baches built on Council reserves including roads. This included areas at Whananaki North, Woolleys Bay etc... These leases are due to expire. It was the intention and policy that at the expiry of those leases the buildings would be removed and the land cleared. Can you please confirm that this is still the position and the steps being taken/to be taken to ensure compliance with this Policy. This policy was in line with central Government's actions to remove illegal baches on public estate. Thank you
Yours faithfully,
Christine Woods
Whangarei District Council
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for contacting us. Your request has been logged under the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.
We will respond to your request as soon as possible and in any case no
later than within 20 working days.
You can also call us freephone 0800 932 463. Please quote Request No.
OIA251796 if you require any further information.
If you would like to notify us about anything further regarding this
matter, you can reply to this email.
Ngā mihi,
Whangarei District Council
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From: John Burt
Whangarei District Council
Tēnā koe ,
I refer to your request of September 08, 2025 for Information about “WDC
Bach leases”. Your request was referred to council’s Property Department
for consideration and answers to the following questions:
o Can you please confirm that this is still the position and the steps
being taken/to be taken to ensure compliance with this Policy.
Response:
The attached file is the only Property policy we hold in our files. It
doesn’t specifically mention the Baches in Whananaki North, Woolleys Bay.
We confirm there are no expired leases relating to the Baches. There are
however current Licence to Occupy (LTO) for Baches in these locations. All
of these LTO are approx. halfway through a 10-year term. Most of the LTO
relate to occupations of unformed legal road (ULR) . ULR is often commonly
called “Paper Road” or “Road Reserve”.
I hope this information is some assistance in responding to your request.
If you believe we have not responded appropriately to your request, you
have the right by way of complaint, under section 27(3) of the Act, to
apply to the Ombudsman to seek an investigation and review of the
decision.
Kind regards,
John Burt
Manager – Property | Property Department
Whangarei District Council | Te Iwitahi, 9 Rust Avenue | Private Bag 9023,
Te Mai, Whangārei 0143
P 09 430 4200 | DDI 09 945 4358 | M 027 532 0002 | [1]www.wdc.govt.nz
[2]Whangarei District Council logo
Dear Whangarei District Council,
In 1996 WDC entered into leases with owners of Baches built on Council
reserves including roads. This included areas at Whananaki North,
Woolleys Bay etc... These leases are due to expire. It was the intention
and policy that at the expiry of those leases the buildings would be
removed and the land cleared. Can you please confirm that this is still
the position and the steps being taken/to be taken to ensure compliance
with this Policy. This policy was in line with central Government's
actions to remove illegal baches on public estate. Thank you
Yours faithfully,
Christine Woods
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References
Visible links
1. Link to the Whangarei District Council's website.
https://www.wdc.govt.nz/
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence (note: this contains the same information already available above).