Council buys back port lease in $2.75m deal | Manawatu-Wanganui News | Local News in Manawatu-Wanganui

Mayor Michael Laws announced the signing of an agreement between the council and River City Port at a press conference yesterday, flanked by the council's port spokesman  Cr Rana Waitai, chief executive Kevin Ross, and properties manager Rowan McGregor.

The agreement was unanimously ratified by the council on Monday.

Mr Laws said that for the first time in 20 years the council now had 100 per cent control of the port - and of the $14 million harbour endowment fund.

The council originally offered River City Port $1.5 million for the lease, which was rejected.

The $2.75 million for the lease would be loan-funded, although it was likely to be a short-term loan, Mr Laws said.

"Many lessees [of harbour endowment land] have indicated they would like to buy their land, so that should pay off much of the loan."

Mr Laws said harbour endowment money would pay for the $500,000 legal bill the council has racked up over the dispute.

River City Port general manager Ray Lambert was reluctant to speak to the Wanganui Chronicle.

He said the company had "entered into an agreement with the council and we're prepared to move on".

"For us, it's the right decision."

The agreement ends four years of public and private wrangling, legal action and arbitration between the council and River City Port. In January, Mr Laws accused River City Port of being "corporate vultures and vandals" and refusing to keep up with maintenance of port infrastructure.

River City Port maintained it was consistently blocked by the council from being able to carry out its development plans.

The two parties entered arbitration in June.

The problems stemmed from a 99-year lease the council granted to Ocean Terminals Ltd in 1989, which was on-sold to River City Port for $1 million in 2004.

Mr Laws described the lease as being "like it had been written by someone who'd had a hard night at the pub".

"It was chaos," he said.

"The lease document was unclear in relation to a number of areas, particularly around maintenance of the port.

"River City Port interpreted the lease agreement in a way that I can hardly blame them for.

 
 "My personal view is that the port will be a recreational operation only, not a commercial one.

 "I hesitate to say this is peace in our time - but it is in terms of Wanganui's port."