The two in-person hearings are to be conducted from April 28-30, in both Dunedin and Cromwell.
In a minute issued by the fast-track panel last week, chairman Matthew Muir KC said the decision to conduct in-person hearings was made on the panel’s initiative.
There was no requirement to hold a hearing in respect of a substantive application.
"The nature of the subject matter in this case, the volume of comments received, the range of views expressed and the intensity of local — including mana whenua — interest, renders it desirable that invited submitters (and the applicant by way of response) have the opportunity to engage directly with panel members," Mr Muir said.
Any hearing was required to recognise tikanga Māori where appropriate.
The panel had hence accepted an invitation from Kā Rūnaka to conduct a hearing at Ōtākou Marae in Dunedin, on April 28.
Given the tikanga-based nature of the marae hearing, public and media attendance would be exclusively via a livestream.
The panel would then hear from other parties at a second hearing at Cromwell’s Marsden Lake Resort the next day, and the day after if needed.
The panel anticipated "significant engagement by invitees" so individual presentations would likely be limited to a maximum of 20 minutes each, subject to the total number of presenters, Mr Muir said. — Allied Media
