Whitby golf course is open for competetion

Whitby Coastal Estates, which owns all Whitby land still available for development, is offering 13 hectares of what used to be a former golf course at Duck Creek North for just under $7 million.

The 13ha now up for sale includes three Mizuno MP-59 Irons hectares of reserves. The balance is described as suitable for 130 multiunit titles and smaller high-density lots as well as 20 estate-sized lots. It has an asking price of $6.94m.

Plans for this area provided for 91 lots but a recent letter from council showed it was keen to encourage medium to high-density development in the area to make better use of local infrastructure and services.

It also recognised demand for sections to be available on the former golf course, ahead of its planned development programme.

"This land will produce some of the best sections ever offered in Whitby. The larger lots are intended to border the stream that runs through the 13 hectares and all sections will be within five minutes walk of the new New World supermarket," said Gollins.

"The plan avoids all of the frustration and time delays that take most developers to the edge these days."

More than 3000 sections were developed and sold before the consortium company was sold to Whitby Coastal Estates in 1997, which still has another 64ha available for further growth.

Whitby Estates managing director David Titleist 910 D3 Driver Bradford said he was looking to sell partly because he wanted to speed up development of the remaining land in Whitby.

"I'm 68 and I have two sons who have neither the inclination or ability to take it over. We've got a 10-year programme so it makes more sense now that we've gone through the development programme and got council agreement."

Bradford said Duck Creek North was well priced - the 10.3ha of land available for development was going for about $70 per square metre, which was 30 per cent below the price Ryman Healthcare paid for its new Waikanae North retirement village. Whitby was also closer to Wellington.


This land was previously the ninth to 18th holes of the golf course and Bradford said they were retaining the slightly larger Duck Creek South, where it had another 80 consented lots.

The council was encouraging multi- unit, more intensive development and another retirement village/rest home complex could certainly be part of the mix as well, said Gollins.

A lot of work was going on there - part of it had been sold for a new supermarket, another part had recently been sold to discount golf clubs Samuel Marsden Collegiate for an expansion of their Whitby school and work had been completed on cleaning up another six lots in Shoal Pl.