Proposed golf resort hurdles remain

Backers of a proposed golf resort at Glendhu Bay, near Wanaka, need to do more to convince the Environment Court their plans for a championship golf course and resort development can tee-off in the future.

The Environment Court has released an interim decision from Judge Jon Jackson on the proposal for a golf resort on about 180ha of farmland on Glendhu Station overlooking Parkins Bay - a secluded part of Lake Wanaka directly west of Glendhu Bay.

The interim decision has directed golf resort company Parkins Bay Preserve Limited (PBPL) to lodge a legal memorandum outlining further conditions to mitigate landscape concerns and provide extra "environmental compensation" at the proposed site.

Judge Jackson said the resort development "as matters stand" was inconsistent with the Resource Management Act, despite the proposal being "in many ways highly laudable".

The proposal included many positive effects and, "because of its careful siting and thoughtful design", it also achieved many of the objectives of the Queenstown Lakes district plan, he said.

However, three important RMA matters were a stumbling block, Judge Jackson said: the landscape impact of the development and its "comparatively large scale" of 42 houses in a rural area; concerns about accumulative effects of possible further development east of the golf course; and the lack of attention to the natural environment of Glendhu Station given the "careful design lavished on the site itself".

"Fairness" dictated PBPL should be given a chance to "redress" or further amend its initial environmental compensation, Judge Jackson said.

Glendhu Station farm-owners the McRae family and Queenstown-based golf course developers Darby Partners - designers of some of New Zealand's top golf resorts, including Clearwater, near Christchurch, Jacks Point, near Queenstown, and Millbrook Resort and the Hills Course, belonging to jewellery magnate Michael Hill, both near Arrowtown - are behind the Parkins Bay proposal.

The McRaes and Darby Partners consultant Brett Thomson, who has handled the resource consent and design process for the golf resort, could not be contacted yesterday.

The partners want to build an 18-hole championship golf course - designed by New Zealand golf legend Sir Bob Charles - a lakeside clubhouse, luxury lodge and accommodation units, as well as 42 surrounding residential homes which will be located overlooking the resort and Lake Wanaka.

Their proposal has remained in legal limbo, with a planning law process which has dragged on for more than two years because of opposition from landscape-protection activists.

The golf resort was granted resource consent by the Queenstown Lakes District Council in May 2008 in a majority decision from independent commissioners Neville Marquet, of Dunedin, and David Clarke, of Arrowtown, with a dissenting opinion from commissioner Jane Taylor, of Queenstown.

The resource consent was appealed to the Environment Court by the Upper Clutha Tracks Trust, the Upper Clutha Environmental Society and Wanaka holiday home owner Dennis Thorn.

Upper Clutha Tracks Trust secretary John Wellington said if the applicants followed the court's recommendation to provide extra public access and create walking tracks, a "very worthwhile" result would have been achieved through the legal appeal process.

The recommendation to provide tracks on Glendhu Station - as separate from the land set aside for the golf resort itself - set a "very useful" precedent for what might be offered as environmental compensation in future cases, he said.

Upper Clutha Environmental Society spokesman Julian Haworth said there was always an arguable case for the golf course itself, but the society was very surprised the interim decision leaned towards granting consent for the 42 houses in what was an outstanding natural landscape.