An agreement is likely to be reached to legalise a camping ground at Kakanui which has been causing controversy for about 10 years.
The Environment Court will hold a pre-hearing conference in Dunedin on December 15 which will consider a progress report on granting a resource consent for the camping ground established by Allan Jones.
The controversy has been running since the 1990s, when Mr Jones first applied to establish a tavern and camping facilities on the 1.23ha site on the south side of the Kakanui River between Waianakarua and River Rds.
The Waitaki District Council declined the application.
Mr Jones went ahead and established a camping ground with associated facilities, claiming he had existing use rights.
But the council challenged that and, in 2005, issued an abatement notice closing the camping ground.
That notice was not pursued when Mr Jones applied for resource consent for the camping ground last year.
The application was for an A-frame one-bedroom unit, ablution block and two one-bedroom cabins, with the remainder of the site for caravans and tents including some powered sites.
It attracted 53 submissions and consent was issued but with access to the site from River Rd.
However, four of the submitters - L. and R. Hildemann, J. Anaru and D. Robertson - along with Mr Jones took the council to the Environment Court.
The issue was over whether access to the camp should be from Waianakarua or River Rds.
Council planning manager Jack Chandra said the court's pre-hearing conference in Dunedin next month would receive an update on mediation to resolve the appeals.
He expected that by the time the court sat, agreement would have been reached between all the parties and a consent order would be before the court.
"The conditions are being worked out now and the appeals are likely to be settled," Mr Chandra said.
The pre-hearing conference will also receive updates on progress, with mediation over four other appeals against decisions by the Waitaki council.
They include an application from Auckland company Euroclass Design, which wanted to subdivide a site on the corner of State Highway 1 and TY Duncan Rd for retail and industrial sites.
The council refused the application, but Euroclass modified the subdivision to include two lots, down from nine.
Mr Chandra said mediation was also expected to resolve that appeal.
The other three appeals - two by Environment Canterbury and one by the Minister of Conservation - will also be updated.
They relate to plan changes or variations proposed by the council.
