Tauranga City Council are once again trying to sell off a popular Mount Maunganui reserve that doubles up as a concert venue.

Soper Reserve – or Brewers Field as it is commonly known – is situated directly in front of Brewers Bar on Newton Street and often plays host to gigs throughout the summer season.

Brewers Field on Newton Street in Mount Maunganui. Photo: File.

The authorities previously tried to sell the spot in 2012, but were stopped in their tracks when members of the Soper family turned up at the submissions hearings claiming a buy-back option in case of a change of use.

At the time, the Bay of Plenty Badminton Association was eyeing the site to house a new badminton centre.

Soper family members told councillors the land was originally gifted to Mount Maunganui Borough Council in the early 1970s, and the agreement included a buy-back option should the council ever decide to sell.

There were 118 submissions opposing the sale of the $2.5 million reserve at the time. However, this year there were just four.

In the Long Term Plan deliberations this week, council resolved to undertake further analysis of the reserve's use, whether some of the land is required for event purposes and to identify persons to whom the land should be offered back to.

Advice to councillors is that only 1,358m2 of the 8,570m2 reserve was acquired by land exchange and was not a gift. Part of the land is the former Aerodrome Road, which was Maori land before that.

Part of the reserve was vested in the council as a reserve contribution for Port Services Ltd.

Staff also report that the resource consent for events on the site expires in January 2016, and the consent holder has not sought to renew it.

A review is to be undertaken to see if the land is suitable for major events in light of the council's adoption of the Major Events Framework, but there is not expected to be any need for open space in that location, says the report.