hearing.
The first day of the hearing on the Save Wanaka Lakefront Reserves Inc appeal against the decision to grant resource consent for the Wanaka Water Sports Facility was held in Wanaka at the Edgewater resort yesterday.
Judge John Hassan and commissioners Kathryn Edmonds and Russell Howie will hear evidence from 22 witnesses. The hearing is expected to last until the end of the week.
Yesterday, the court heard evidence from witnesses for the Wanaka Water Sports Facility Trust.
During her cross-examinations of the witnesses, Save Wanaka Lakefront Reserves lawyer Maree Baker-Galloway questioned everything from the size of the facility, the number of car parks needed, why other sites were not considered better, what effect the prevailing wind had on being able to row on the lake and whether other users of the site considered during the design process.
Witnesses included trust chairman Michael Sidey, Wanaka Rowing club committee member and coach Amanda Inkster, Wanaka Lake Swimmers club president Jackie Boyd, and landscape architect Anne Stevens.
In his opening submission for the trust, lawyer Graeme Todd said the case was primarily about the effect of the facility on the surrounding landscape.
Mr Todd said the evidence would show the proposed facility would not degrade the important landscape character of the area and therefore would not conflict with the Queenstown Lakes District Council's district plan.
In July, independent commissioners Bob Nixon and David Clarke approved the consent for Wanaka Watersports Facility Trust to build at 420sq m building on the edge of Lake Wanaka in the Roys Bay Recreation Reserve.
When it was notified, the original application attracted more than 1000 submissions, of which more than 700 were against the facility.
Both sides have sought donations to help fund the Environment Court case.
Last year Mr Sidey told the Otago Daily Times the trust would have spent almost $400,000 before work had started on the proposed facility.
