# Housing - bargain prices in abandoned town



## Song_Si

*A town for sale: Why does no one want to live here?*
By Kieran Nash
5:30 AM Sunday Jul 24, 2011

*It sounds like the sale of the century - 10 years ago Charles and Janet Hedges bought a house and two shops on 0.6 hectares for just $15,000.*

In the next few days it's possible someone will get an even better deal when abandoned land is flogged off; the pair's only concern is they don't want their town, Ohura, over-run. Not that there's much chance of that. Demand is not high for plots of land in this part of remote King Country - it's flood-prone, with no cellphone coverage and three-quarters of an hour's drive from the nearest town.

Ohura doesn't exactly scream location, location, location. Rather, it resembles a ghost-town; a shell of its former self; the population dropped by a quarter to 165 in the last Census. But that was part of the appeal for the Hedges, who moved from Hamilton 10 years ago after Charles saw an advertisement in the local paper.

That $15,000 later and a home and prime retail space was theirs. They're putting it to use in a type of his 'n' hers retail arrangement - Charles stores his collection of odd-looking bicycles and 1950s motorbikes in his shop and Janet turned hers into a second-hand shop, called Janet's.

Council deputy chief executive Peter Till says it's the third abandoned land sale in three years. Twenty-three properties throughout the Ruapehu district are abandoned, 10 of which are in Ohura. The last time, 10 properties didn't even meet the reserve price, even though one section sold for $400.

This time, the council has lowered the tender reserve and is trying again. The council does not own the land, it's just allowed to sell it. Although the money goes to the owner, usually it's swallowed up by outstanding rates.

But people did live there once. Lots of people. The council's property contracts supervisor, Denny Moynihan, grew up in Ohura, the third generation of coal miners in the town. He moved to Taumarunui about 20 years ago when the mine closed.

"I sold my five-bedroom home with two sections for $30,000, 20 years ago. "That's the attraction - low value houses. But you've got to be prepared to live there." He says growing up in the town was excellent - the town had its own council and rugby team. There were about 400 students at the primary and secondary schools there, whose parents worked the farms and coal mines in the area. But the mines shut and the smaller farms were bought out, shrinking the local labour force.

more


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## Song_Si

from the Ohura website

*Welcome to Ohura*










A remote town in the wilds of New Zealand's central North Island.

We live amongst the hills and valleys—isolated from the worlds frustration, but apace with its urgency through fibre optic connection.

Come visit with us—see how the world is meant to be. Where your neighbors are your friends, where your children can roam and forage with safety and freedom, and community is a positive part of life.


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## kiwigser

*Ohura*

Visited there on the bikes a couple of years ago. I had read about this ghost town and as we travelling over the "forgotten world highway", did a deviation through Ohura. It was a Sat. afternoon in high summer. The only place open was the second hand store, it used to be a garage employing 19 mechanics during the logging days.

Ongarue has suffered a similar fate but farming keeps it going, just! Exploring that area is well worth it, but not to live there.


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## Song_Si

There are massive coal reserves in the Ohura area, and for many years this was seen as the future of the place, but it is low-quality coal, combined with the environmental issues (1 damage to landscape, 2 coal-fired power stations unpopular) that never happened. 

I made the mistake once of deciding to take Highway 40 as a short-cut on the way from Taupo to New Plymouth; 'The Waitaangas' it's called, hell of a trip on a motorbike at night. Never again! Once upon a time in another life I studied environmental mgmt, we went out that way on a field trip, common to find shells/fossils as many many years ago it was under the sea. A long way to the beach now though.


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## Song_Si

*Three bedrooms for just $15,000*
By Kieran Nash
5:30 AM Sunday Aug 7, 2011










*Lionel Wellington is the proud new owner of one of the country's cheapest homes.*

Just $15,000 has netted him an abandoned three-bedroom weatherboard house in the tiny King Country village of Ohura.

The house was one of 23 properties that the Ruapehu District Council put out for tender last month.

One small flood-prone block of land went for only $250, but the most liveable property went to Wellington - who lives across the street.

"I am quite pleased," said the 66-year-old. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet."

The septic tank needs fixing, the bathroom and laundry floors need replacing, and it will have to be repainted. But "mostly the house is fairly sound" he said.

"If I spend from now until Christmas, I can get it looking pretty good."

Council deputy chief executive Peter Till was pleased with the $155,000 raised from the 19 property sales.

The council is asking the courts to deem another 40 properties abandoned, so they too can be seized and sold.


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## kiwigser

*Worth a revisit*

I think spring may be a good time to re visit the area, if into tramping there are walks through the forest with a couple of decent waterfalls.

See:Ohura Falls


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## tcscivic12

Still a beautiful area from what I see in the pictures above. Would love to own property there.


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