The Rolleston Community Centre in Canterbury is not up for sale, not yet anyway.

Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon found herself explaining the situation after details of an offer on the community centre were accidentally made public in council documents.

The council refused the offer to buy the community centre and the land it sits on – prime real estate next to the Rolleston Fields commercial precinct in the centre of town.

“We were approached by someone asking if we wanted to sell the community centre,” Gliddon said.

“My role is to bring that offer to the council table, as it’s not for me to answer, it is the governance team's responsibility to make a decision.

“What we decided is that we need to finish our strategic investment strategy and spatial planning before we can even start to consider that type of stuff.

“In local government, we have a special consultative process, it is a strategic asset, so it’s a two-year process to go through.

“This stuff just doesn’t happen at one meeting.

“It needs a proper conversation with our community about what the outcome is at the end.”

The offer “is probably a couple of years too soon” to be considered as there is lot of discussion, strategy, and planning to undertake, she said.

That will start later this year when work begins on the long-term plan.

“We know there is another community centre proposed for Rolleston in the long-term plan, but we need to be smart about what we do.

“In my personal view, having two community centres is just more operational cost.”

The long-term plan has $6.1m for a new community centre in south-west Rolleston.

The existing community centre has been undergoing redevelopment and refurbishment.

The purchase offer being considered was inadvertently leaked by the council on Monday when the agenda was made public.

Gliddon said it contained a more “explicit description” than what would generally be provided.

Council agendas, in line with the Local Government Act, usually state the general subject matter and the reason for it to be considered while the public is excluded, such as commercial sensitivity in this instance, and if the decision will be released to the public.

For Wednesday’s meeting, the agenda stated that “once a decision has been made about the potential sale of the Rolleston Community Centre, then portions which do not relate to the commercial sensitivity of the other party will be considered for release”.

The decision to decline the offer was made on Wednesday and released on Thursday.

By Jonathan Leask