The Kakanui Camping Ground is staying open - even though it does not have a resource consent - and owners Allan and Chris Jones say it is up to the Waitaki District Council to resolve the seven-year impasse.
However, the council says the couple should apply for a resource consent and if they operate the camping ground without one, enforcement action will be taken to stop them.
The Joneses have been trying to get resource consent for the camp since 2003.
They feel the council has put them in a "lose-lose situation" ever since they applied for a resource consent for a facility the Environment Court said "the wider community (including the travelling public) would be the losers should it be forced to close".
Mr Jones, and some local residents opposing the camping ground, went to the Environment Court last year to appeal a 2006 council decision granting resource consent for the 1.22ha camping ground, cabins, 30 powered and unpowered tent and caravan sites on the south side of the Kakanui River.
A condition was that access be from River Rd-Harbour Tce, not Waianakarua Rd, and Mr Jones should pay for widening River Rd and upgrading the River Rd-Harbour Tce intersection, because of safety issues.
The court issued an interim decision that instructed Mr Jones and the council to reach an agreement to upgrade those roads or it would decline consent.
Agreement was not reached and the court said it "took no pleasure" in declining consent, because the camping ground "appears to provide a needed facility in the small beach settlement of Kakanui".
Mr and Mrs Jones, in an interview with the Otago Daily Times, were adamant they would continue to operate the camping ground.
They were looking to the council to resolve the issue over access - the only reason why the court turned down consent - and believed they had already spent enough on the resource consent process.
Mr Jones estimated it had cost him about $22,000 so far in council charges, which did not include his own legal and expert witness costs.
The issue was simple to Mr and Mrs Jones - access to the camping ground off Waianakarua Rd, which had been their wish all along.
When they applied for consent in 2005, they stipulated access off Waianakarua Rd.
Then, and now, they maintain that provides safe access with sight lines for motor vehicles exceeding standards and a 70kmh speed limit which has been in place for several years.
Mr Jones believed the council created the current situation by stipulating access had to be off River Rd and Harbour Tce.
"All the way through they [the council] have tried to stitch me up," he said.
In March 2008, a compliance inspection by Opus for Mr Jones said Waianakarua Rd was suitable, but needed a sealed driveway from the edge of the road to the camping ground boundary.
Mr Jones appealed the access to the Environment Court.
The court indicated a preference for the Waianakarua Rd access, but said it could not make a decision on it because it would affect other people who might want to object to the proposal.
The council's planning manager, David Campbell, said the way forward was for Mr Jones to apply for resource consent and seek access off Waianakarua Rd.
Mr Jones originally did this some years ago, and this was declined by council at that time, for traffic safety reasons.
At the time, the speed limit on the road was 100kmh and traffic experts said it was too dangerous.
The speed limit had now been reduced to 70kmh and traffic experts agreed safe access could be provided from that road, providing some engineering works were carried out.
Mr Campbell said Mr Jones was mistaken when he said the council insisted on using access from River Rd and Harbour Tce in regard to this latest application.
This application was made with an alternative access to Waianakarua Rd.
"Unfortunately, traffic experts could not agree that without improvement works to the intersection of River Rd and Harbour Tce, this proposed access was safe.
The facts are covered in the court decision," he said.
In an interim decision, the court directed the council and Mr Jones to see if they could come to some agreement on cost-sharing for the River Rd-Harbour Tce intersection upgrade.
The council considered only the cost of improvement works that could be attributed to the camping ground and indicated this to Mr Jones.
This was not accepted by Mr Jones, which left the court little choice but to decline the application.
The court never indicated that it was up to the council alone to resolve that matter.
"Should Mr Jones decide to operate a commercial camping ground without consent, the council will take enforcement action to stop that, consistent with the court's decision," Mr Campbell said.
