Dunedin Council to lose out in Carisbrook sale?

Dunedin City Council has made a conditional deal to sell the historic Carisbrook rugby ground.

According to Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull, the historic ground, bought by the council in 2009, will be developed for industrial use.

The buyer, believed to be a South Island construction firm, is conducting due diligence before the deal would go unconditional, something which could take weeks or months, the Otago Daily Times reported.

Carisbrook, along with the surrounding houses and land, was bought in 2009 for $7 million as part of a deal to aid the cash-strapped Otago Rugby Football Union and facilitate the Council's development of the new Forsyth Barr Stadium.

The homes and some of the adjacent land have since been sold.

However, Elizabeth Kerr, a built environment consultant and blogger for 'What if? Dunedin...', has claimed the site has been sold for as little as $3 million leaving the Council with a considerable shortfall.

In a subsequent statement, the Council advised that when the agreement became unconditional, the sale price and other details would be publicly available.

The New Zealand Historic Places Trust has previously called for historic parts of the stadium to be preserved and for part of the historic site to feature a reduced sports field for community use.

Image shows Carisbrook in its heyday.