Kai Tahu ki Otago said tangata whenua would suffer adverse cultural effects if the proposed marina went ahead in the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu.
During the final day of the proposal's resource consent hearing, KTKO Consultancy planner Tim Vial and Kai Tahu ki Otago representative Francie Diver, of Alexandra, told commissioners Neville Marquet, Andrew Henderson and John Lumsden that the runaka opposed the marina.
The scale of the completed structure would alienate tangata whenua from the lake and foreshore. During their submissions they were unaware of Queenstown Marina Developments Ltd's request to extend the number of marina berths from 240 to 320.
When asked by the Otago Daily Times if that had influenced the submission, Mr Vial said the runaka had not been made aware of it. Mr Vial said Lake Wakatipu has ‘‘high cultural significance to Kai Tahu''.
Mrs Diver said her tipuna (ancestors) had always regarded the area as a rich summer food source.
‘‘The cumulative effect of the marina structure and on-shore buildings will be to overshadow the relationship Kai Tahu have with a natural resource of high cultural value,'' Mr Vial told the commissioners.
Mr Lumsden put it to Mr Vial that the public access over the lake would be increased by provision of walkways along the edge of the marina, which could be used for fishing and other activities.
However, Mr Vial said the space inside the marina would be private, denying tangata whenua access to a large surface area.
Kai Tahu ‘‘are not opposed to a marina in the location'' but this proposal had ‘‘more than minor effects'', which could not be mitigated by conditions.
In his closing remarks, QMDL's barrister John Hardie said the consent was being sought not just as a commercial interest but to build a marina that was in ‘‘the long-term community interests of Queenstown''.
He rejected suggestions made by two Lakes Environmental landscape architects and Warrington family lawyer Michael Parker that the Frankton Arm was a part of the Outstanding Natural Landscape designation set on Lake Wakatipu by the Environment Court.
The commissioners will now make their decision.
