Hearing into Frankton Flats zoning back before court

Frankton Flats Zones and the Queenstown Airport noise boundaries will be subject to further Environment Court hearings in Queenstown from today following the adjournment of the matters in January and February.

The Frankton Flats Zone issue will be heard in the Queenstown District Court, set down for five days from today.

Environment Court hearing manager Lauren Williams said, however, two witnesses would not be able to attend this week.

Their evidence was expected to be heard on April 30, also in Queenstown.

The hearing is dealing with with Plan Change 19, Frankton Flats Zones (B), and seeks to provide for the comprehensive rezoning of the Frankton Flats area to allow educational, residential, visitor accommodation, commercial, industrial, business and recreational activities.

Independent commissioners had recommended the council accept the plan change in part, subject to modifications, but it was subsequently appealed by Air New Zealand, FM Custodians, Foodstuffs (South Island), Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust, Manapouri Beech Investments, Queenstown Airport Corporation, Queenstown Central, Shotover Park and Remarkables Park.

The matter was heard between February and last month before it was adjourned.

Following that, two weeks of hearings, likely to begin May 1, would finish traversing the Queenstown Airport air noise boundaries issues surrounding future developments.

Plan Change 35 proposes to amend existing air noise boundaries and associated district plan provisions allowing for projected airport growth through to 2037.

The private plan change was adopted "in part" by the council but then appealed by Air New Zealand, Remarkables Park, Shotover Park and Wakatipu Residents Against Air Noise Inc.

During a hearing in January and February, the residents withdrew from the hearing.

In their final submissions at that hearing, Remarkables Park and Shotover Park Ltd, QAC, the council and Air NZ said an agreement had been reached over changes to the plan change.

The Environment Court is expected to release its decision on the plan change following the hearing's conclusion next month.

The final matter to be dealt with by the court in Queenstown is the airport's direct referral to the Environment Court, a notice of requirement to alter its existing aerodrome designation, to be heard between April 30 and May 11.

The Notice of Requirement seeks to expand the airport's aerodrome designation over 19.1 ha of Remarkables Park land on the south side of the airfield.

The airport company wants to establish an aviation park on the land, catering for Code C aircraft, corporate jets, flight-seeing fixed-winged aircraft and helicopters.

 

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