Construction of Wanaka's biggest development has been cleared to start, after a competing property developer dropped its last-ditch appeal to the Environment Court against the massive Three Parks project.
A scheduled Environment Court hearing in Wanaka yesterday was shelved after Mt Cardrona Station Ltd withdrew its legal appeal against the Queenstown Lakes District Council's plan change 16 - a document which sets out criteria for the staged development of Three Parks - late last week.
The withdrawn appeal clears the way for Willowridge Developments Ltd to proceed with its ambitious plans for Three Parks, although the QLDC will retain an ability to impose "health checks" on the development to ensure a planned secondary town centre does not affect Wanaka's main retail area.
The QLDC's plan change 16, ratified by council last December, was subject to two appeals lodged by Three Parks developer Willowridge and Mt Cardrona Station in March.
QLDC policy and planning general manager Philip Pannett said the council had been involved in mediation talks with both parties, before Mt Cardrona's decision to drop its appeal against the "fundamental" elements of the plan change.
Mt Cardrona Station director Ross Hawkins declined to comment when contacted yesterday, and Willowridge director Allan Dippie did not respond to telephone messages left by the Otago Daily Times.
Once completed, Three Parks will include a secondary town centre catering for retailers, a new supermarket, and about 750 housing units.
Willowridge has been planning the ambitious project for the past eight years.
The development is to be built on 100ha of land on the outskirts of Wanaka and bordered by the town's eastern approach along State Highway 84, Riverbank Rd, and Ballantyne Rd.
It is predicted to provide jobs in the construction industry for the next 20 years.
Mt Cardrona is a development company planning a new village and hotel complex on 131ha of land above the Cardrona township between Wanaka and Queenstown.
The Mt Cardrona development is authorised by way of the QLDC's plan change 18 - a planning law zone reclassification similar to Three Parks which was also subjected to an appeal in the Environment Court.
Mr Pannett said "nothing really substantial" had been changed in the Three Parks plan change as a result of mediation talks with Willowridge, although amendments had been made to some "areas of detail".
The main thrust of Willowridge's appeal had called for a "critical" increase of up to 12,000sq m minimum for stage 1 of Three Parks' planned commercial and retail area; effectively a secondary town centre for Wanaka.
The council "had not moved on that issue" and the initial zone for a commercial retail area remained set at 10,000sq m; a designation made to protect Wanaka's existing town centre, Mr Pannett said.
"[The council] has always been keen to carefully develop the early expansion of the retail and commercial area so that we can judge the impact on Wanaka's town centre."
If the early growth of Three Parks was "fast" and the council's "health checks" showed Wanaka's existing town centre was not being adversely affected, then the opportunity was there to expand the retail precinct in stages, he said.
The council and appellant parties are scheduled to sign off on documents from the Environment Court to make the Three Parks plan change 16 fully operative "within the next couple of weeks", Mr Pannett said.
