Firth Concrete Limited lease of land on Clemow Rd will come up again at a New Plymouth District Council meeting on May 24.

New Zealand's largest concrete company has not been paying a New Plymouth District Council land lease for 30 years, thanks to what appears to be a mistake by the authority.

Firth Industries Limited, a subsidiary of Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure Limited, is operating on council-owned land at Clemow Rd - despite its lease having expired in 1986.

The company has now asked the council for a long-term lease to legalise its occupation and use of the site.

But when the application came before a meeting of the council's monitoring committee on Tuesday, there was shock the situation had gone unnoticed by both the authority and the company for three decades.

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And even though the mistake appears to be the council's, Firth could still be asked for some of the money it should have paid over the years, a sum yet to be determined.

Council property manager Peter Handcock said the discrepancy was only recently brought to the authority's attention.

While Firth was given the option to buy the land freehold, council had not had time to properly consult with hapu on the sale before tabling the report, he said.

The report detailed: "While the company through its parent company originally held a lease over the land, that lease expired in 1986 and while steps were taken to issue a new lease, that action was never finalised."

The company was paying rates for the Fitzroy site but it was understood it only paid the lease up to 1986.

Handcock suggested the re-negotiation of a new lease could have slipped through cracks following the 1989 local government reform which saw four councils amalgamate to the NPDC.

Councillor Harry Duynhoven said Firth had a "moral obligation" to at least consider paying back some of the revenue money it would have paid over the decades.

Duynhoven moved a motion to add a recommendation to investigate the council's legal position in asking Firth to back pay.

However, despite the issue being hotly debated the motion lapsed after councillor Marie Pearce's was unable to second the motion and no one put their hand up to support it.

Deputy Mayor Heather Dodunski and councillors Richard Jordan and Shaun Biesiek, voiced their disapproval of the other councillors' attempts to point the finger at Firth and look at possible legal remedies.

However, the committee voted against granting Firth a long term lease by five votes to four, leaving the issue at a standstill.

It was hoped the issue would be re-tabled at a full council meeting on May 24.

The error was not enough to spark an investigation of the council's other leasehold properties, Handcock said.

While the company was permitted to continue its operations on site, it would not be able to build on the land while the matter was still outstanding, Handcock said.

The report said Firth was planning a proposed capital investment infrastructure plant upgrade/waste treatment discharge on the site.

Firth's Taranaki area manager, Owen Richardson, said he would not comment on the foregone lease payments or the committee's decision to not grant Firth a long term lease.