Sack commissioner call rejected

Tony Avery.
Tony Avery.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has rejected a call from an environmental group to sack an independent commissioner from a hearing next month.

Upper Clutha Environmental Society secretary Julian Haworth asked the council to replace Bob Nixon as one of the three commissioners appointed to a resource consent hearing on a proposed lakeside lodge near Waterfall Creek, in Wanaka, next month. Council planning and development manager Tony Avery told Mr Haworth the council had full confidence in  Mr Nixon and he would not be replaced.

Mr Nixon was a commissioner for both the Wanaka Watersports Facility and the Hewetson Langbein Nominees hearings, earlier this year.

Both developments were opposed by the environmental society, but were ultimately granted resource consent. Mr Haworth  said he did not have confidence in Mr Nixon’s ability to give full weight to the impact the lodge would have on the area of outstanding natural landscape. Mr Avery said just because Mr Nixon had reached a different decision to that sought by the environmental society did not mean he was pro-development. The two previous decisions were made after a detailed and comprehensive assessment of evidence and were not made by Mr Nixon alone, Mr Avery said.

In both cases the impacts on the areas of outstanding natural landscapes were considered, he said.

The lodge is on a 17ha property zoned rural general belonging to Gavin and Jaquetta George, of Wanaka, but is located in an area of outstanding natural landscape.

Mr George told the Otago Daily Times in October the lodge was designed to be as inconspicuous as possible from Mt Aspiring Rd and Lake Wanaka.

The lodge would operate year-round and provide accommodation and coaching packages to sports enthusiasts and special-interest groups.

Mr George said he recognised the proposed lodge would be in an area of outstanding natural landscape and did not want to impact on that.

The hearing is set to start on December 2 at 10am.

tim.miller@odt.co.nz

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