A Queenstown developer is "astonished" the Queenstown Lakes District Council is opposed to his proposed charitable tennis academy in Bridesdale Farm, near Queenstown.
Chris and Michaela Meehan want to establish the Winton Tennis Academy on 3.5ha of land within the special housing area they developed.
The philanthropic venture would cost up to $3.5million to build and would comprise eight courts, two of which would be indoor/covered and would cater for up to 16 school
pupils.
The initial proposal was amended after notification to respond to submissions about public access.
One court would now be reserved for the public, and anyone could use the other seven courts when they were not required by the tennis academy.
During a resource consent hearing in Queenstown yesterday before commissioners Gina Sweetman and David Mead, Mr Meehan said, to date, he and his wife had spent about $300,000 on the proposal.
That included more than $260,000 for the Lakes District Tennis Trust, founded by Winton Group, of which Mr Meehan is the chief executive.
"Michaela and I want to help create opportunities for young people to advance themselves through sport and, by doing so, give something back to our community.
"It's not a pleasant situation to be in to be spending, give or take, $300,000 arguing - or dare I say fighting - with the council for the privilege of then being able to spend a further $3.5million to build a facility that's purely for community use," he said.
While the proposed site was within an outstanding natural landscape area, Mr Meehan said the centre would occupy a "tiny" portion of it.
The couple had looked for about five years for an alternative site but could not find any other flat land that was not council-owned or zoned for residential or industrial use.
Instead, they had focused on the proposal at Bridesdale.
He stressed he was not issuing an ultimatum, but told commissioners if the resource consent application was unsuccessful "then there will be no tennis centre".
"It's as simple as that.
"Not [one] that we're funding, anyway."
Lawyer Warwick Goldsmith said the proposal, entirely on private land, was a "rare philanthropic opportunity" and the chances of anyone else doing the same was "remote".
"Gift horses and mouths come to mind.
"This isn't [for] private gain.
"It's actually a developer trying to get something out of his back pocket and give something back to the community he's benefited from."
The hearing continues.
