An "environmental compensation" package will be offered by backers of a controversial golf resort proposed for Glendhu Bay, near Wanaka, to try to swing an Environment Court decision in their favour.
The Environment Court has called for a judicial conference to hear the latest legal arguments in a lengthy saga to determine whether the Parkins Bay Golf Resort development can proceed.
Three parties - the Upper Clutha Environment Society, Wanaka holiday home-owner Dennis Thorn, and the Upper Clutha Tracks Trust - are behind an appeal to the Environment Court against a decision granted to the developers of the planned resort, Parkins Bay Preserve Ltd.
Parkins Bay, a secluded part of Lake Wanaka directly west of Glendhu Bay, is the proposed location for an 18-hole championship golf course, a lakeside clubhouse, luxury lodge and accommodation units and 42 surrounding residential homes.
The proposal is the brainchild of Glendhu Station farmers Bob and Pam McRae, and one of New Zealand's foremost golf course developers John Darby - partners in PBPL.
Mr Darby's company, Darby Partners, is responsible for some high-profile developments, such as Millbrook Resort, near Arrowtown, and Jacks Point, near Queenstown, which have both raised the profile of Central Otago as a golfing tourism destination.
Mr Darby also developed the two courses which have been vying to host the 2011 New Zealand Open - Clearwater Resort, near Christchurch, and The Hills, near Arrowtown, the privately owned course of businessman Michael Hill.
An interim decision released by Judge Jon Jackson last December called for PBPL to submit evidence about whether the developer was prepared to offer "environmental compensation" to the Environment Court.
Judge Jackson highlighted four walking tracks, which would be built at the developers' expense on private land at Glendhu Station separate from the golf course and the development itself - a potentially precedent-setting consideration.
The "comparatively large scale" of the golf course development and especially its 42-house proposal in the rural setting was a stumbling block for the court, unless other environmental compensatory benefits could be offered, he said.
Mr Darby said he would not be commenting on the matter as it was before the courts.
Legal counsel for PBPL and the QLDC have confirmed a judicial conference will take place to settle on a date and process for another Environment Court hearing into the matter.
However, the recent earthquake in Christchurch has disrupted the normal function of the Environment Court, which is based in the city.
QLDC lawyer and MacTodd barrister Tony Rae, of Wanaka, said the Ministry of Justice had advised legal practitioners the courts would not be operating until next week, and once resumed it was "likely be in a limited capacity and dependent on circumstances".
