Since lying empty, it has attracted the unwanted attention of vandals, prompting K\u0101inga Ora to install security measures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been ongoing issues with people unlawfully entering the vacant site and damaging buildings. We have taken steps to address this, including boarding up windows, installing fencing, and using security guards at various times to help deter further incidents.<\/p>\n
Images detailing the vandalism at the Amber Park site have appeared on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus has been on keeping the site safe and secure, as it would not be a good use of public money to invest in further maintenance while the property is for sale and likely to be redeveloped,\u201d said McDowall.<\/p>\n
Joseph Fullerton, a local community board representative, says the sooner the land is put to use, the better.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving that land sitting idle is a disservice to the community, especially when the holiday park has in the past been a place for people to stay,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen it elsewhere in Riccarton where sites like the much-valued Antonio Hall and the Deans Ave saleyards are left idle and start to become a problem, so I think we\u2019d all like to see action on the Amber Park site sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n
\u201cRiccarton can\u2019t thrive with idle land.\u201d<\/p>\n
Riccarton Community Board representative, Joseph Fullerton.<\/p>\n
Details on the value of the property are regarded as sensitive, but a 2025 valuation had the property at almost $3 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the property is on the market, we are not disclosing the purchase price or its current valuation, as this could affect the sale process and the price achieved. We want to secure the best return so we can reinvest the proceeds into new and upgraded homes that better meet tenants\u2019 needs,\u201d says McDowall.<\/p>\n
Damage inside one of the accomodation buildings at the Amber Park site – as shared on social media.<\/p>\n
Fullerton, who represents the Riccarton ward, says he\u2019s disappointed in the \u201clack of follow-through\u201d from K\u0101inga Ora in the Riccarton area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of three sites that were intended for KO developments in the Riccarton area and many more in the city as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cRiccarton is one of the youngest and most diverse wards in Christchurch, so we need good housing and we need it delivered quickly with minimal disruption, and developing large sites like the ones KO had earmarked in Riccarton is one of the ways to get this done.<\/p>\n
\u201c181 Riccarton Road, the Workotel Site, and Amber Park represent decades of underinvestment by KO and Housing New Zealand in our Riccarton community,\u201d said Fullerton.<\/p>\n
The decision to abandon development plans came about after a \u201cfinancial reset\u201d<\/a> by K\u0101inga Ora last year. As part of that assessment, all social housing projects and land holdings were reviewed.<\/p>\n K\u0101inga Ora has raised $330m in its first nine months of a sweeping state home sell-off, and a Herald analysis suggests its most valuable inner Auckland houses typically fetched 13% below council valuations.<\/p>\n Auckland state houses accounted for $179m and 256 of the 777 properties sold by the government housing provider since July last year.<\/p>\n Thirty-four of the Auckland<\/a> sales were homes previously identified by the Herald as among the city\u2019s most valuable state houses in our 2025 developer treasure map<\/a>.<\/p>\n Those 34 collectively sold for $53.9m \u2013 or $8.1m below their combined 2024 Auckland Council valuation of $62m, according to data from property valuers Valocity and Herald analysis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since lying empty, it has attracted the unwanted attention of vandals, prompting K\u0101inga Ora to install security measures.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[806,27495,682,29895,217389,4487,3339,23543,101,111,43,139,69,6029,23544,2170,1133,39706,58933,61,217390,107200,6123],"class_list":["post-423739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-as","tag-awaits","tag-being","tag-campground","tag-cherished","tag-christchurch","tag-housing","tag-kinga","tag-left","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-once","tag-ora","tag-plan","tag-sale","tag-scraps","tag-suburban","tag-to","tag-trashed","tag-vandals","tag-while"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}