An application by the Jehovah's Witness church to build a Kingdom Hall in Balneaves Rd, Wanaka, was met with opposition from the neighbours of the proposed site, at a resource consent hearing at Edgewater Resort yesterday.
The church is proposing to build a single-storey, 210sq m building on the 4007sq m site, with associated earthworks, landscaping and a sign.
Hearings commissioner Jane Taylor will decide whether the building gets consent, if changes to the proposal are necessary, or if the proposal should be declined.
Nine of the 10 submissions lodged with the Queenstown Lakes District Council were against the hall being built.
Balneaves Rd resident Claire Perkins said she was opposed for numerous reasons including the impact on the existing residents in the area, and the non-residential nature of the facility on land zoned as rural residential.
Counsel for the applicant Maree Baker-Galloway said the importance of the facility was reflected in the fact that the district plan permitted community activities and were it not for the size of the building it would be permitted on the proposed site.
