Topic 5: What Property are we willing to Sell?

Let's talk more about some Council-owned property that's not doing a lot for us or you.

During our community engagement for the 2024-25 Enhanced Annual Plan, we sought your feedback on potential areas to explore for cost savings and rate reductions. The feedback we received supported the idea of reviewing the land and buildings we own to identify assets that could be considered for sale.

We talk about this topic on pages 34-35 of our Consultation Document.

Selling Council properties can not only help to reduce overall property debt – selling non-strategic properties also has the potential to free up funds that can then be applied to generate better returns or be used for other purposes.

Our Council's Property Strategy says we should manage our strategic property assets in a way that's financially sustainable to cut costs and maximise community benefits. If we have surplus properties that don't meet these goals, we should sell them to get the best financial or community value. The money from these sales (from selling land and buildings) can then be reinvested to improve our remaining properties or buy new ones to meet our objectives.

In the consultation document we identified a list of assets that we would like your feedback on whether you are comfortable with us putting these on the market for sale.

• Take a look at the full list of properties.
• Read our Property Strategy

It should be noted that some of these assets are currently leased. If we decide to put them on the market, we'll definitely talk to the lessee first!

At this stage, we are asking for your feedback as to whether you support us taking the assets to the market.

We do not intend to take all Council owned properties to the market, nor will we take all properties to the market at the same time, as this is not likely to get the best sale outcomes that we want for our community. This will be a staged process, determined by your feedback, strategic outcomes the property delivers to Council, existing leases, land constraints, and the market in which we will be selling in.

One of the main challenges is with endowment properties. We have to look at each one individually, following best practices, legal requirements, and the terms of the endowment. The properties we've proposed to sell don't have these constraints.

We have other land and building assets that we'll review for potential sale. However, these other assets might have more strategic value, offer a better return, or be limited by endowments that restrict their use or future sale. The current list is just the first one to consider. We'll need to do more work before we can present another list to the community for sale options.

By involving our community, the Council can better identify which properties are surplus to requirements, the level of community interest in these assets, and how best to utilise the proceeds from their sale whilst ensuring transparency and accountability in the process.

The feedback that we will receive from the community will ensure that the disposal of property aligns with the needs and values of our local population.