A seemingly straight-forward application to build a farmhouse in the Cardrona Valley will have to clear resource consent hurdles relating to landscape issues, after being publicly notified.
The leaseholders of the 3700ha Rob Rosa Station, located on the western side of the Cardrona Valley and north of the Snow Farm access road, want to build a 317sq m residential dwelling to replace an existing unused farm cottage.
Because the site is zoned rural general and is within an outstanding natural landscape (ONL), the consent application has been notified to allow the public to submit on the proposal.
As a designated ONL, the Cardrona Valley between Queenstown and Wanaka is subject to a high threshold of protective landscape measures designed to combat visual effects associated with buildings.
Rob Rosa leaseholder, LAC Property Trust, which is associated with director Lane Andrew Clayton Hocking, of Dunedin, has applied for consent to build a single-storeyed, five-bedroomed farmstead, a 96sq m garage, and implement sheds to house an excavator, tractor, truck, and other vehicles.
The trust also wants to establish a 253sq m building platform for a future dwelling(s) to accommodate farm workers.
The Cardrona Valley has been a hotbed of planning law issues, with a history of legal stoushes between landowners wanting to build on their property and landscape protection group the Upper Clutha Environmental Society.
Public submissions on the proposal can be made to council regulatory authority Lakes Environmental before January 21.
