A watchdog and caretaker'' society has been set up to ensure the Waitaki District Council follows the rules - and its first target is the council's Forrester Heights luxury residential subdivision on Cape Wanbrow.
The new Friendly Bay Society has gone to the Environment Court questioning whether the way the council handled resource consents for Forrester Heights was correct.
The society, a charitable trust, has 15 signatories, with Barry Monks acting as interim chairman and Jenefer Haig as secretary.
Mr Monks, along with committee member Wayne Stringer, were both unsuccessful candidates for the council in last year's local body elections.
During campaigning, they were critical about the way the council handled some local development.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Stringer described the society as a ‘‘watchdog and caretaker organisation to ensure credible and sustainable development'' in the Waitaki district.
‘‘The aim is to safeguard and promote heritage, culture and the environment.''
Its name is drawn from Friendly Bay at the Oamaru Harbour and Mr Stringer said it would concentrate on the harbour area, ‘‘but not exclusively''.
The 23-lot Forrester Heights development on 5.84ha on Cape Wanbrow overlooking the Oamaru Harbour is a major contributor to a projected $3 million property division surplus to help pay for the $9.7 million opera house restoration and redevelopment.
The council has already sold more than half of the sections, but it is dependent on reserve status over the land being lifted by Parliament as part of the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Bill later this year.
Mr Stringer was not against development, just the way it had been done and the processes followed by the council.
‘‘We are trying to correct those, make sure the council dots the i's and crosses the t's and follows the rules'' he said.
Mr Stringer said the society had applied to the Environment Court for a declaration related to resource consent for Forrester Heights.
The primary question was whether the land was a reserve or not. There were also issues relating to the Lookout Point land and subdivision of a paper road through the development.
In its application to the court, the society described itself as ‘‘a group of dedicated volunteers who seek to represent the interests of the community''.
‘‘One of our objectives is the retention, maintenance and enhancement of public parks, reserves and endowment land in Oamaru and the Waitaki District,'' it said.
Judge Jon Jackson had asked the council to respond by March 24. Council chief executive Michael Ross was not available to comment yesterday.
