Businessman seeks $1m damages from QLDC

John Cossens
John Cossens
A Lake Hawea businessman is preparing a $1million-plus damages claim against the Queenstown Lakes District Council over the difficulties he faced getting consent for a small rural subdivision.

John Cossens owns Mt Maude Lodge and said yesterday he was preparing to apply for a High Court judicial review of council processes which were ‘‘in error, unreasonable and inconsistent’’.

Dr Cossens said after three years ‘‘battling the council’’ he received titles for his three new sections, next to the lodge, in December.

But it had come with a ‘‘huge amount of cost’’ and stress which ‘‘needn’t have happened if they had done things properly’’.

Dr Cossens said the council process was ‘‘unreasonable’’.

His view was the council process was flawed because it took into account the proposed district plan, notified in 2018.

‘‘That proposed district plan has changed so significantly and will change again so how can you rely on something which hasn’t been settled?’’

Dr Cossens said the council should have abided by the current, operative district plan rather than put weight on the proposed plan.

‘‘As the court has pointed out to them [the council] a number of times, you can’t really put weight on something until it’s fully determined.’’

Dr Cossens has contrasted his experience with that of Universal Developments given council approval for more than 400 houses nearby, in the same rural zone.

Dr Cossens believed his problems stemmed from the council’s lack of a ‘‘detailed assessment and identification of the landscape values and character’’ for the Upper Clutha.

‘‘This is really at the heart of the matter because identification of those landscape values should have driven the development of the objectives, policies and rules of the plan.

‘‘It would seem a no-brainer that this is where you would start but council, despite many parties requesting such a study, refused to undertake research like this, and as a result they relied on outside Auckland based consultants.

‘‘Solely relying on the opinion of consultants to develop landscape values and character has been shown to be unreliable, and best practice demands the views of the community balance consultant opinion.’’

Dr Cossens said the cost to ratepayers and parties such as himself had been ‘‘astronomical’’ and could have been avoided if the council had ‘‘collaborated with the community and established the landscape values and character of this district first’’.

‘‘In a nutshell, council have made a real hash of the rural chapters of the proposed district plan and it will be the ratepayers and ordinary citizens who will carry the very high cost of the errors that have been made.

‘‘It’s all a bit of a shambles really.’’

A council spokeswoman said a response to Dr Cossen’s comments would be provided today.

The council’s planning and strategy committee is due to discuss today an Environment Court interim decision requiring the district plan to be more specific about outstanding natural features and landscapes in ‘‘priority areas’’ of rural parts of the Upper Clutha.

mark.price@odt.co.nz

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