Media Release: Successful tenderer for the lease of Organs Island announced
Successful tenderer for the lease of Organs Island announced
The West Coast Regional Council (WCRC) has approved a successful tenderer for the land management of the Organs Island area near Westport.
Local contractor McIntyre Contracting Limited has been selected after a comprehensive, independent procurement process.
Organs Island land is vested in the West Coast Regional Council and is designated a local purpose (flood protection) reserve. Under Regional Council procurement rules, the Council had to go to market for the future lease of the land. In August 2026, Regional Council issued a Request for Tenders (RFT) through an independent procurement agent. Regional Council did not specify land use in the tender documents seeking a tenant with a proven track record of good land management practices and a detailed plan for how they intend to use the approximately 102- hectare area of land.
West Coast Regional Council Chair Colin Smith says: “The tender was evaluated using a highest price conforming model and McIntyre Contracting Limited was identified as the preferred applicant. Regional councillor, Buller Constituency, Mark McIntyre is a director of this company and declared a conflict of interest in advance of the tender process. Accordingly, we implemented a comprehensive independent procurement process to ensure that this conflict was managed appropriately.
“The intent is for the land to be mined for alluvial gold. This is based upon recent sampling by experienced mining personnel working under an existing exploration permit. A Resource Consent and mining permit will need to be obtained to properly carry out the intended use of the land for mining and land rehabilitation. The tenderer intends for only 10 hectares of land to be mined at any one time, with the balance of the leased land used for grazing cattle.”
Chair Smith says any financial gains Regional Council makes from the lease arrangement will be ear-marked for Westport flood protection, with the goal of reducing predicted debt around the Westport Flood Protection Scheme project reset.
“There will be an annual lease rate to be paid whilst consents and permits are sought which increases once the intended use commences. Over and above this rate, a 10% royalty will be paid based on actual gold sales and Council would be provided with a mechanism to audit those sales.
“This is an important factor in our leasing of this land. Our focus is to receive the maximum possible revenue from this lease to deliver flood protection for Westport and this use of Organs Island, if mining is successful, will contribute financially towards that and reduce the financial burden on ratepayers in the future.
“Rehabilitating the land is also part of the arrangement. The land is currently low lying, wet and flood-prone and the intention is that it will be improved significantly when rehabilitation is complete. It will be raised to a height where flood waters will not affect the area and drainage is improved significantly.
“In terms of the procurement and tender process, Regional Council employed an external party, NZ Procurement & Probity Services, to ensure the process was carried out with professionalism and integrity. Two respondents proceeded to the point of interactive clarification meetings in relation to the RFT. NZ Procurement & Probity Services found our process conformed with NZ Government Procurement Rules and procurement best practice. No information about the process was provided to Councillor McIntyre, other than that which was in the public domain. This was managed in accordance with Guidelines from the Office of the Auditor-General and NZ Government Procurement,” says Chair Smith.
The lease will commence on 1 June 2027 to allow the current leaseholder to remain on the land until end of season.
Organs Island is part of an historic flood overflow from the Buller River to the Orowaiti River. In the July 2021 floods, it overflowed into the Orowaiti Estuary, reaching parts of Westport. A rock-training wall was rebuilt by WCRC at Organs Island after the floods.
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For further information please contact:
Resilient Westport Communications team