Prime property near the Bluff signpost is back on the market after failing to sell last year, and a local conservation group is not happy about it.

The 2.7-hectare property at 6 Ward Pde was listed for sale in October last year with Tall Poppy Real Estate. It is now back for sale by tender, listed with Professionals.

Last October, the Bluff Hill Motupōhue Environment Trust put in a bid of $1.2 million to buy the land but had not succeeded, according to trust project leader David Swann.

The trust was concerned that the land would be used for development, which could affect the colonies of tītī (mutton-birds) and other wildlife on the hill. The trust had expressed its opposition to any development and said it had been working since 2008 to restore the native habitat and eliminate predators on Bluff Hill.

This time, Swann said, the trust would not be putting in an offer to buy the property. However, trustees would be “lining up our resources to ensure that development does not occur on this site”.

“It’s got so many important values, culturally, in terms of conservation and our community. It is also an iconic place. We must not see development occur here,” he said.

“I think the vendor may have been persuaded [by the likelihood] that there’s a billionaire out there somewhere who will just buy it.

“That’s our fear: that somebody comes along who can employ the very best lawyers, consultants, and then we will see bulldozers take over that section of land.”

Attempts this week to contact the landowner, former Bluff resident Zora Boyd, were unsuccessful.

Last October, Boyd said that if the trust was concerned about development, it should buy the land.

Boyd inherited the property from her late father in 1972.

She previously said the land was zoned as residential, only one dwelling could be built, and it could not be subdivided. She had decided to sell the block then to buy a house in Bluff to live in.

Boyd said she recognised the land was in a desirable location for conservation and did not believe the property would be used for development once sold.

She had contacted the Department of Conservation last year before putting the land on the market to see if it wanted to buy it. The Invercargill City Council had offered to buy the property in the past, although Boyd had declined that offer as it was well below the value of similar properties that had sold on the hill in that year.

A spokesperson for Professionals New Zealand declined to comment except to say the real estate agency invited all interested buyers to express their interest. The tender would close on December 19 at noon.

The agency’s listing for the property said it had been privately owned for more than 50 years and described it as being “nestled at the southern tip of the South Island”.

“This property boasts a location that is breathtaking and iconic with the uninterrupted views of Foveaux Strait and beyond … providing unique opportunity for an astute purchaser.”