Auckland Council is seeking to put the owners of the once prestigious Gulf Harbour Country Club into liquidation for failing to pay over $25,000 in rates - adding on to an already existing bill of $200,000 dollars.

The reputation of the facility, which locals described as a ‘magnificent icon of Whangaparaoa’ continues to be tarnished by community complaints, court proceedings, and the emergence of a ‘tent-city’ at the course’s car-park ever since it suddenly shut down in July last year.

A council spokesperson said it applied to liquidate Long River Investments on June 20th for $18,386.54, which had since risen to $25,804.56.

“Long River has not taken any steps to defend the liquidation proceeding. The hearing of the liquidation application is 16 August 2024,” they said.

It will be the second time the company faces liquidation in recent months, after it narrowly dodged the bullets thanks to an overseas funder covering up to $25,000 in debt to the operators of Ferntinental Café at the club.

It came as the company was already looking at a hefty bill for council services following the two blazes over three days which decimated the course’s abandoned clubhouse and golf shop in May.

The council was forced to demolish the buildings as ‘a matter of urgency’ because of the safety risk and because the company’s directors didn’t initiate demolition when asked.

Phil Wilson, Auckland Council’s chief executive, wrote to now banned company director Greg Olliver, and current director Eroll Bailey on July 12 demanding the cost be paid back.

“Council had to meet costs in excess of $200,000 for engineering, demolition, disposal and security purposes. We will require to be reimbursed in full for these, and an invoice will be with you shortly,” Wilson wrote.

The council said there had not been any communication since the letter was sent, but they were still finalising the cost and were yet to send the invoice.

However, if the company were to be liquidated, it assured the liquidators would be aware of the bill.

Wilson’s letter also addressed the company’s obligations to maintain the property, and the issue of squatter living there, which had attracted many complaints from the public.

“If you need advice as to issues like removal of freedom campers, or any planning and development matters, my staff can assist,” Wilson wrote.

Tensions between locals and the campers escalated after allegations of two people being threatened with a weapon.

Members of the Facebook page Keep Whangaparaoa’s Green Spaces (KWGS) said they witnessed one camper throwing a machete at someone vehicles last month, and another said their husband was threatened by ‘one of the squatters with a machete,’ last week.

A police spokesperson said they were looking into two reports, and were aware of a man who had been living in a camper van at the property ‘for a number of weeks’.

“Given the abandoned site is private property, Police have no jurisdiction to forcibly remove this man,” they said.

Images shared on the page showed a make-shift barricade set-up at the entrance of course, with caravans in the car park.

Local councillor, John Watson, said the space had naturally transformed into a public space, where locals would walk their dogs and go for runs.

But recent events had left people fearful to enter.

“It’s just gone from bad to worse, and in this case, it’s private land so it's not as if [the council] can move them on because they really need the owner to be proactive in that and make a complaint to council, but they’re not very easy to contact if at all,” Watson said.

“They’s just quite happily leaving the whole golf course and club to deteriorate, and that includes just allowing anyone to squat there who feels like it.”

Watson called it the latest in a ‘long, drawn-out saga’ of events at the once ‘prestigious facility’

Newstalk ZB has approached Errol Bailey for comment.

Jordan Dunn is a multimedia reporter based in Auckland with a focus on crime, social issues, policing, and local issues. He joined Newstalk ZB in 2024 from Radio New Zealand, where he started as an intern out of the New Zealand Broadcasting School.