It may be known later this year if a business park in Lincoln will get the go-ahead.
Lynn and Carol Townsend and Malcolm and Lynn Stewart want to rezone their Springs Rd properties from rural to industrial land for a business park.
Selwyn District Council rejected the application in 2023 as part of the District Plan review.
The business park bid had been opposed by the Townsend and Stewarts’ neighbours Jill Gordon and Ross Thomas, Barton Fields resident Jason Scott, PGG Wrightson Seeds, Fletcher Residential, and Bioeconomy Science Institute.
The Townsends and Stewarts appealed the council decision to the Environment Court.
The parties for and against have until the middle of this month to provide closing statements to the court, after which Judge Prudence Steven and commissioner Kate Wilkinson have about three months to make a ruling.
The Townsends and Stewarts say there is no industrial-zoned land in Lincoln.
The 15ha they want rezoned would accommodate businesses like vehicle servicing, garden supplies, and trade supplies.
But the council says there is no need for industrial land in Lincoln, given its proximity to Rolleston.
When the bid was first made, the plan was to rezone 27ha. But after the appeal to the Environment Court it was cut to 15ha when a third party who owned land on the corner of Springs and Tancred Rds pulled out.
The planner for the Townsends and Stewarts, Fiona Aston, told the court it was “odd” Lincoln did not have industrial land, comparing the connection between Lincoln and Rolleston to Kaiapoi and Rangiora.
Infrastructure expert for the Townsends and Stewarts, Alan Hall, said, if the rezone was approved, it would take about five years to develop the business park.
