Former Parks boss puts 'stake in ground' over land sale talk

“Once you get rid of the land it could be very difficult - if not impossible - to get it back again.”

Mar 18, 2025

Former long-time Invercargill parks and reserves manager Robin Pagan says councillors need to think about future generations before considering selling off land.

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A former long-time Invercargill parks and reserves boss is urging city councillors to resist selling off Donovan Park land as part of a possible “one-off cash in the pocket suggestion”.

Robin Pagan joined the Invercargill City Council in 1966 as an apprentice in horticulture and gardening and remained there until retiring in 2018 as Invercargill’s parks and reserves manager.

At a Donovan Park Masterplan hearing on Tuesday Pagan said councillors need to think about future generations before considering selling off any reserve land.

Pagan’s warning comes as Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark continues to push hard for the council to sell off part of its farmland at Donovan Park.

Clark has identified the sale as a way to free up land to increase housing stocks in the city, while at the same providing a revenue option.

The land Clark has suggested for sale is farmland where the Southland A&P Show and equestrian events have been held.

Pagan, who visits Donovan Park most days, said everyone would be guessing as to what the city’s needs are for that land in 50 years.

“We need to ensure that what we have got is retained for the future.”

“The issue of selling to pay for a rate reduction is something that has been considered in the past for other areas.

“Before my time there was a suggestion of selling off Kelvin St [land] at Queens Park for houses along there to make money.

“That was suggested probably 70 years ago, so these one-off cash in the pocket suggestions will come and go, but I please ask councillors to think seriously about those generations into the future.

“Once you get rid of the land it could be very difficult - if not impossible - to get it back again.”

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Pagan said what was at Donovan Park was already getting used by the public, and he added it could be used even more with “a wee bit of embellishment” and “the opening of a few gates” - at little cost.

“I don’t think we should be putting any cost on ratepayers right at present, but we should leave that open so it could happen in the future,” Pagan said.

He added the need for recreational space would be increasingly important as Invercargill expands and the size of sections that a lot of people now live in has decreased.

“Most sections now are being developed with very small gardens and small areas and people are more and more walking out the gate on a daily basis and using the neighbourhood parks, and even ones further afield.”

Pagan said the “political” suggestion of selling some Donovan Park land had confused the Donovan Park Management Plan process for some in the public, but he was still keen to voice his concerns as a resident.

“I know [sale] is not part of this Management Plan, but it is stated at the bottom of the Management Plan that there is those possibilities, so I have to put my stake in the ground at this stage.

“I’m not intending to chain myself to any trees at Donovan Park right at present, but on a warm day it might happen,” Pagan joked.

Phil T

Mar 18

The whole Donovan Park land sale debate is so full of holes and has been from day one. The most annoying bit is the constant reference to what money it will raise. I have seen figures from 8 Million to 30 Million dollars coming back to the council and these figures are being pushed out to try and influence the public submission process. That is so wrong in so many ways. Transparency has never been great around the table at the ICC nor has business acumen and the onus should be on getting some reliable indications on actual returns to the ratepayers. There is no need to hide behind the much-used public excluded sessions as it should be a process to deliver the best possible return if sold and that should be by public auction. Any other deal entered into will see ratepayers fronting for millions of dollars of roading and infrastructure costs.

And the biggest point is we are seeing how the council fails to understand town planning issues as they have for the last 40 years by working hard to develop the city fringes as the inner city ages and housing stocks deteriorate.

Donovan Park is part of the city's family silver and Mr Pagan points out very correctly the once gone we will never get it back. Those who set Invercargill out in the first surveys looked to the future and we have a city that has remarkable green spaces. For a city of around 50,000 residents we have spread out to a far greater degree than most cities with the same population but seriously do we need to keep swallowing up more green spaces or do we need some much smarter thinking about rejuvenating the areas where out housing stocks are old and damp.

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