Opponents of a residential development in Evansdale took their concerns to a resource hearing committee in Dunedin yesterday.
Blueskin Bay Forest Heights Ltd has applied for consent to establish dwellings on each of 11 lots of a 75ha subdivision at Wright Rd, Evansdale.
The company's directors are Brian Bell, of Albury, William Lapthorn, of Christchurch, and Evan MacClure and Bryan Rapsey, of Timaru.
Consent had already been approved for rural allotments ranging in size from 6ha-9ha, but that did not include land use consent for residential activity.
The site is a rural zone, and council planner Andrew Henderson recommended it be declined as a non-complying activity because of the adverse effects on rural character, that it would not promote the sustainable management of the resource, and because it could create an "undesirable precedent" that could undermine the district plan.
There were submissions from 27 people, all but one of whom opposed the project.
The 12 opponents who spoke at the hearing yesterday expressed concerns about the visual impact, effects on native birds and flora, loss of amenity values on neighbouring land, traffic, and the possible housing density on the site.
Hearings committee chairman Cr Colin Weatherall said he and committee members Cr Richard Walls, Cr Andrew Noone and Waikouaiti Community Board member Andrew Barratt would conduct a site visit.
A decision would be made within three weeks.
