Mrs PADGHAM-PURICH - 1996-10-09
I have been told on one occasion that the land at the Coastal Plains Research Station will be sold for residential blocks. On another occasion, I was told that it would be allotted to a district centre. Lately, I have been told that it will be sold to Heytesbury Holdings, owned by Mrs Janet Holmes a Court, as a staging point for export cattle. If this latter is true, what were the reasons surrounding this decision by the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I can inform the member for Nelson that I know nothing of a proposal to sell the land to any particular individual or group. The government's procedure when selling land is to do it in an open process and to give everyone an opportunity. In this case, we are talking about land that can be made available for productive purposes. As far as I am aware, the department is still determining the way in which that area of land could be broken up and put to good use. When that decision is made, we will make the land available through some open, public process to allow everyone to put in their bids and have a chance of becoming part of it. No such arrangement as the honourable member has suggested has been put in place.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I can inform the member for Nelson that I know nothing of a proposal to sell the land to any particular individual or group. The government's procedure when selling land is to do it in an open process and to give everyone an opportunity. In this case, we are talking about land that can be made available for productive purposes. As far as I am aware, the department is still determining the way in which that area of land could be broken up and put to good use. When that decision is made, we will make the land available through some open, public process to allow everyone to put in their bids and have a chance of becoming part of it. No such arrangement as the honourable member has suggested has been put in place.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016