The agent selling an Auckland seaside cottage at the centre of a coastal walk dispute told OneRoof this week he had been dealing with multiple interested parties since the May 24 tender deadline closed.
Firth Cottage, at 9 Kitchener Road, in Takapuna, hit the market at the end of March for the first time since the 1920s, offering buyers the chance to secure 1072sqm of waterfront land.
However, the site is complex and the walkway that runs through the property is currently blocked.
Listing agent Andrew Dorreen, of Precision, said he had received interest from people who would like to reinstate the public walkway, which was part of Te Araroa Trail, but he could not comment on the status of negotiations or the number of parties involved out of consideration for those involved and the family selling.
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“It's my objective to find a suitable buyer who would be able to purchase the property and reinstate the walkway, and that's been the objective from day one and that's still the objective,” he said.
A OneRoof report published in March told how the family selling the cottage were “worn out” by years of negotiation with Auckland Council and so had put the historic but rundown cottage they inherited up for sale.
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The report explained buyers would also inherit a fence, which blocked access to the walkway, and told how the closing of access to the thousands of walkers who passed through each year while following the 2.5km Takapuna to Milford coastal stretch had caused much controversy.
The previous owner of the cottage, the late Paul Firth, had opened the land for free in 2011 after a public bridge washed away, and the New Zealand Herald reported last year the current owners had wanted to hand over a slice of the land to Auckland Council for use as a walkway on condition the council removed a 2013 heritage overlay placed on the cottage.
A fence was erected after the council’s slow response, and that meant walkers were forced to take a longer detour.
The fence that went up in September last year, blocking access to the walkway through the property. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The Herald also reported Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown describing the closure as “blackmail”.
In March, Dorreen told OneRoof how negotiations between the council and the family had been going on since 2018 and that “extremely favourable” terms offered by the family to buy the property were rejected late last year.
“I think they are worn out,” he said. “There are not many negotiations that have been going on so long.”
The family were hopeful the council might re-engage but failing that hoped another buyer, or group of buyers, would buy with a view to restoring public access, he said.
The cottage has a heritage overlay but is described by the vendor's lawyer as "the last of the old dunga baches along the coast". Photo / Supplied
The cottage has a Category A heritage protection status under Auckland Council’s unitary plan, which prevents it being removed or the site redeveloped, and Dorreen’s marketing said buyers needed to consider and investigate this as part of their due diligence.
The Category A heritage protection described the house as having significance as the home of Clifton Firth, a notable New Zealand photographer.
Alex Witten-Hannah, the lawyer for the family, told OneRoof in March the property was “the last of the old dunga baches along the coast there”.
He said when Clifton’s son, the late Paul Firth, co-owned the cottage with his sister, the council had agreed to buy the property for half price but after Firth died they reneged on that.
Witten-Hannah said in his view the council had overlooked the fact the walkway was of greater historical significance and importance than the cottage as people had used it for 100 years to walk the coastline, and it was likely used by Māori to get along the coast for centuries.
The property has a 2021 CV of $6.81m, $50,000 of which is for the improvement.
- 9 Kitchener Road, in Takapuna, Auckland, is for sale with Precision agent Andrew Dorreen
