A prime property on Bluff Hill listed for $1.2 million last year that didn’t get a single offerfor a tender and failed to sellthis month does not surprise Bluff Hill Motupōhue Environment Trust project leader David Swann.

The 2.7-hectare property at 6 Ward Pde near the Bluff signpost had been re-listed for sale through tender last month, which closed last week.

It has now been re-listed for sale through ‘price for negotiation’.

This would be the third time the property has been listed for sale.

It was first listed for sale in October last year, and it failed to sell at the time.

“The reality is: whether the trust opposes it or not, getting planning and resource consents, and then building consent on that site is going to be extraordinarily difficult,” said Swann.

“Effectively, it’s a landlocked section. So it’s just the market speaking. It was always [that] the value of any piece of land is what the market determines, and the market has obviously looked at it and realised that it isn’t a viable section for development. Therefore, it’s worthless.

“Of course, it’s not worthless. The whole point is that its value, as a piece of native biodiversity, you can’t measure that. Certainly not in dollar terms,” Swann said.

“My view is that that section will hopefully remain undeveloped, will continue sequestering carbon, and be a home for tītī (mutton-birds) and other birds that live on the hill. So, a good outcome from my perspective,” Swann said.

Swann said that the trust wasn’t opposed to development in Bluff.

“Bluff real estate has just listed a couple of sections above Elizabeth Street. We’re fine with development on those sections [because] they are not high quality bush. We’re not trying to obstruct development in Bluff. We’re just trying to prevent inappropriate development,” Swann said,

When it was first listed, the trust was concerned that the land would be used for development, which could affect the colonies of tītī and other wildlife on the hill.