A proposal to establish a perfumery at Speargrass Flat is now open for public comment.
Taramea Trust has applied for resource consent to undertake additions to its existing commercial winery at Dalefield and to establish a perfumery within the building, which would include retail sales of the product.
Works on the site included landscaping and the formation of 10 car parks. The additions comprise a 112sq m utility building and a 72sq m storage shed.
Consent is also sought to identify a residential building platform of 513sq m on a terrace behind the commercial building and construct a dwelling within it, to be used as the manager's residence.
Subdivision consent was also sought, with one additional lot planned to contain the proposed buildings, which would separate them from the remainder of the site.
The subject site is owned by Ann Pinckney, Michael Pinckney, Ellesmere-Sly and Cargill Trustees Ltd - the parties make up the Taramea Trust.
The 16ha farm block was bought by the applicants in the late 1970s to grow grapes on and establish a winery named Taramea - which is the Maori name for Speargrass.
The winery building on the site was constructed in 1980 and two years later a main residential unit was built.
Vines were planted on the hillside beside the winery and along Speargrass Flat Rd and, during its early years, Taramea was the original winery for the Central Otago region, the application said.
In 1993, the winery operations were put on hold and in 1997 Taramea was leased out as the Taramea Small Winemakers Centre.
During the lease period a manager's cottage was relocated to the site, but in 2006 the applicants determined the manager's residence had not been located in "the most desirable location" and was not of sufficient quality to justify a comprehensive restoration.
It was subsequently removed with the intention of finding a "superior site" and building a new cottage.
While the site still held resource consent for a wine production and tasting facility, only a small quantity of wine was now produced.
However, the applicant proposed to continue using the buildings - both old and proposed - for wine making and tasting, but sought flexibility so the commercial buildings could be permitted to operate as a perfumery.
The trust proposed to create a fragrance from Speargrass, which would allow for the manufacture and storage on site, along with a "small boutique type showroom" which could be used as a "rural selling place".
Retailing would operate from 9am-5pm Mondays to Saturdays and 9am to noon on Sundays.
Submissions close on September 21.
