Lakes Environmental planner Christian Martin says a 52-lot residential subdivision on land off Aubrey and Outlet Rds should be refused.
His recommendation is attached to the agenda for the notified resource consent hearing in Wanaka on September 2 and 3.
The area is zoned rural residential and rural general.
The proposal conflicted with the Queenstown Lakes district plan "predominantly due to the lack of any support for allowing rural residential estate-type development in the rural general areas . . . and the related importance placed on the protection of the character of visual amenity landscapes," Mr Martin said.
If just the rural residential area was being considered, the proposal would be appropriate in terms of adverse effects and in terms of the district plan, Mr Martin said.
The land is formerly known as the Urquhart block, and has been long used by mountain bikers and walkers, with landowner permission.
The developer, East Wanaka Land Trust Holdings Ltd, has support from neighbouring landowners Allenby Farms, which is associated with the Cleugh family, and Shaun Gilbertson and his wife Anne Louise Stokes.
Outlet Holiday Park managers Glenn Tattersall and his family also support it, in part because it would provide reticulated effluent-disposal services to the camping ground.
However, Mr Martin noted an extension to the camp was not specifically proposed in the application.
The Upper Clutha Tracks Trust is among four neutral submitters and suggests public access should stick more closely to those identified in earlier studies of the area.
The trust also wants wider access issues to be taken into account to avoid a piecemeal approach and says the use of roadways as linkages is "less than ideal".
The Office of Treaty Settlements, which is responsible for the adjoining Plantation Forest - also very popular with mountain bikers - is another neutral submitter and has asked the commissioners to take into account the status of the forest.
The OTS also says there is no obligation to provide access to the forest and having linking trails may not necessarily be a meaningful, positive effect.
The application has 14 opposers, including the Upper Clutha Environmental Society, which says the developer should use the plan-change process rather than the resource-consent process, and which has concerns about adverse effects.
Many of the opposers live on Aubrey Rd or on the lower slopes of Little Mt Iron, and their submissions echo concerns raised by the environmental society and the tracks trust.
The directors of East Wanaka Land Trust Holdings Ltd are John Darby and George Kerr, who are involved in golfing, skifield and development activities.
Mr Martin said further information was needed before he could be satisfied there would be no contamination from the sawmill, which no longer operates, and historical sheep-dip sites.
