Amusement park hearing to begin

Appeals against a controversial amusement park and tourist attraction planned for land opposite Wanaka Airport will be heard by the Environment Court at Wanaka next week.

The project was granted consent in 2010 by independent commissioners appointed by the Queenstown Lakes District Council, but has had a complex history since then.

The Young Family Trust - associated with former Invercargill-based businessman Ross Young, his wife, Judith, and their son Eamon - wants to develop land at the corner of State Highway 6 and Mt Barker Rd as a commercial entertainment facility featuring go-karts, bumper boats, tenpin bowling and a cafe.

At the consent hearing, Lakes Environmental's then planner Michelle Grinlinton-Hancock recommended the project be refused because it did not comply with the rural general zone, encouraged urban sprawl and would be more appropriate in other zones. However, the commissioners decided the character of the local environment was defined by existing large hangars, the Toy and Transport Museum and Have a Shot, and the overall adverse effects would be no more than minor.

The commissioners' decision was appealed to the Environment Court by Mt Barker Rd landowners, the Staufenberg Family Trust and Jeffrey and Margaret Feint because of concerns about loss of rural amenity and visibility of the development - the subject of next week's hearing.

After the appeals were lodged, the QLDC's strategy committee resolved it did not support the commissioners' decision to grant consent.

The council then took the unusual step of applying to the Environment Court to change its position and call evidence from its own officers against the decision. This was opposed by the Young Family Trust on the grounds it would be unfairly prejudiced after consent had been obtained through proper process.

Last December, Environment Court Judge Jon Jackson refused the council's application, citing "public confidence in the process" as a key factor. Also, no new evidence had been produced to justify the council's change of position and there were "grave doubts" whether the strategy committee's approach was permissible under the Resource Management Act, he said.

The development has previously been supported by the Warbirds Over Wanaka Community Trust Board and Have A Shot NZ Ltd.

The hearing begins at 11am on Monday at Edgewater Resort and is set down for a week.

- lucy.ibbotson@odt.co.nz

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