A developer's plans to remove 18 trees and excavate a 5m mound of dirt from the One Mile Reserve caused some "discomfort" around the Queenstown Lakes District Council table yesterday.
One Mile Apartments Ltd sought resolution on four applications it has made to QLDC for work in the council reserve in association with its development of 30 apartments.
The company has applied for a resource consent but is waiting for QLDC's approval to carry out work in council-owned land.
In the public forum, One Mile Apartments Ltd planner Mark Brown told councillors the matter had already been to several committee meetings and to full council.
Mr Brown said the mound of earth which he wanted to remove was actually an old pile of fill dumped during earlier developments.
"Over the years it has compacted and naturalised," he said.
However, council staff were not so sure about either the origins of the mound or the impact its removal would have on the reserve.
In her report, Lakes Property Services manager Collette Farrer stated "it is likely this proposed landscaping and excavation will give an impression of this part of the reserve belonging to a private development".
QLDC community services general manager Paul Wilson said it could create a "significant detrimental visual impact on the reserve".
Parks manager Gordon Bailey said the removal of the soil would have to be done in a way that would not destabilise the area around it.
The company also wants to remove 18 Douglas firs from the reserve then replant with native beech, kowhai and shrubs.
The replacement plants would not be "low-lying vegetation" and included mature trees.
However, the councillors were not happy with rushing their decision.
Despite QLDC parks manager Gordon Bailey recommending a $100,000 bond to ensure the work was completed, Cr Gillian Macleod said she felt a "level of discomfort with the level of development on the edge of town".
The councillors needed to think about the change of backdrop between the Douglas firs and three-level apartments, she said.
Cr Leigh Overton recommended councillors visit the site.
In the other matters, councillors agreed to the installation of temporary road anchors while a retaining wall is built on the Thompson St boundary.
There was more reluctance about the creation of an easement through the reserve for a stormwater drain which would discharge into a stream but Mr Geddes said the "rights and wrongs of stormwater" were not up for debate - just the easement.
The councillors agreed to the anchors, hoardings and easement but will wait for a site visit before approving the excavations and tree removal.
The applications are likely to be included in the next community services committee meeting agenda.
