The Middleton Family Trust is appealing a decision by the council’s hearings panel on its proposed district plan (PDP) that rejected its rezoning submission to allow low-density housing.
The trust is proposing a 34-lot subdivision on three distinct terraces, on the lower slopes of Queenstown Hill, at the end of Tucker Beach Rd.
However, the other two areas did not have the moderate-to-high "landscape capacity" to absorb the density of development such a rezoning could enable.
Consultant landscape architect Bridget Gilbert said those areas had a "relatively high visual profile" in that they were easily visible from parts of the Queenstown trail, roads and existing homes in that locality, contributing to its sense of "remoteness and wildness".
Parts of the total 34ha site adjoin an outstanding natural landscape and a Department of Conservation recreation reserve.
Its eastern boundary borders land, already zoned as lifestyle precinct, was dotted with premium homes on large sections.
In earlier submissions yesterday and on Tuesday, Middleton Family Trust counsel Bal Matheson said lifestyle precinct zoning was appropriate for the whole site.
It was proposing a "structure plan" that specified 25 lots on the lower terrace and four each on the other two terraces.
It included building restriction areas, covering more than half the total site, which separated the three terraces and would protect sensitive areas.
The structure plan and a planting and vegetation management plan would work together to ensure a "sense of spaciousness" was maintained, Mr Matheson said.
Homes would have minimum 50m setbacks from the edges of the escarpments that separated the terraces, further reducing their visual impact from public viewing points such as the Tucker Beach reserve.
The hearing is expected to finish today.
