Multimillionaire businessman and philanthropist Paul Brainerd and his wife, Debbi, who have a home at the exclusive Wyuna Preserve development near Glenorchy, bought the run-down Glenorchy Holiday Park for about $1 million in March.
In the following months they snapped up four surrounding properties to fulfil their ''Glenorchy marketplace'' vision.
However, the Overseas Investment Office wrote to the Brainerds' lawyer, Russell Mawhinney, in July saying it was likely the purchase, made through Mr Brainerd's company Pounamu Holdings 2014 Ltd, needed OIO consent.
The campground adjoins Department of Conservation land ''held for conservation purposes''.
The irony is the department leases the land to the campground for car parking.
Pounamu has now applied for retrospective consent for the purchase, something it did not do originally because of ''incorrect advice'' from its lawyer, the application said.
Consent has also been sought for the transfer of half of the company's shares from Mr Brainerd to his wife.
Glenorchy resident Niki Gladding has written to the OIO asking for the application to be rejected.
She said it was reckless for the Brainerds' advisers not to check the classification of the campground's adjoining land.
In fact, she believed it had been in the Brainerds' interests not to seek OIO approval because it might have slowed the sale process and they might have missed out on the land.
The Pounamu application said there had not been much interest in the property in the previous 12 months.
It noted owner Tony Bennetts was in ''financial difficulties'', with debts owed to his mortgage company and Inland Revenue.
''It is possible that neither the vendor nor the vendor's mortgagee would be able to find a purchaser, given the state of improvements on the land and the substantial funds required to continue the campground and general store business.''
However, Miss Gladding established there were two other willing buyers in February.
Mountain Scene spoke to one of them, who did not want to be named but confirmed he put in an unconditional offer and had money aside for an upgrade.
But the offers were gazumped by Mr and Mrs Brainerds' higher offer, which was presented confidentially by their representative Peter Campbell, of Triple Star Management.
Mr Brainerd said the fact the adjoining land was officially declared as being held for conservation purposes in 2008 was a ''complete surprise to us, our real estate agent and our attorney''.
Only 17m of the campground's boundary adjoined the land, he said.
Mr Brainerd said he and his wife had been open about their intentions for the general store and campground. They have held three public meetings in Glenorchy and consulted 200 people.
''We hope that we have demonstrated by our actions that community engagement is important to us.''
The OIO said it had not made a decision and was yet to fully assess the application.
- Mountain Scene
Vision for Glenorchy
The Brainerds' marketplace vision:
The Glenorchy marketplace idea was presented at a public meeting in Glenorchy in July. Paul and Debbi Brainerd plan to upgrade their 3ha Glenorchy site, including building more than a dozen cottages, conference facilities and a general store in the hope of extending the tiny town's tourist season. The project has a green bent - it will feature environmentally sensitive architectural design, with buildings that use half the energy and water of traditional ones. The site will be built in stages and once completed in 2018 it will accommodate up to 120 people - but with fewer camping and caravan sites than before. Profits from the venture will be ploughed into a community trust. Former Bungy Group NZ chief executive Michelle Trapski is leading the project, with support from Glenorchy's Emma Kingan and Queenstown architect Jackie Gillies. The campground is closed, which the Brainerds say is necessary to upgrade water and wastewater systems and electrical wiring that are no longer safe or legal to use.
Who are the Brainerds?
According to a story published by United States public broadcaster PBS, Paul Brainerd made a cool $US120 million profit from the sale of his page composition company Aldus Corporation to Adobe Systems in 1994. He is credited with coining the phrase ''desktop publishing''. A dedicated environmentalist, he founded The Brainerd Foundation to protect the US Pacific northwest's environment. He is also a founding partner of Social Venture Partners, which encourages business professionals to give time, money and expertise to their community. According to news reports, he and wife Debbi donated $US25 million ($NZ31.8 million) to found Islandwood, a hands-on environmental education centre on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. The community raised a further $US27 million. In 2007, the Brainerds received a lifetime achievement award from the Cascade Land Conservancy, for creating Islandwood and conservation work.
