Central Otago Environmental Society members are worried the Raggedy Range is in danger of being broken up into subdivisions, using scarce water resources.
>Conflicting aspirations for Raggedy Ridge
In his application for a 17ha subdivision consented earlier this year, developer and landowner Shaun McLellan had told the council the geographical surface of the land in question indicated there could be water available, and the council accepted that, society spokesman Richard Kohler said.
Consent was granted by the Otago Regional Council last month to Mr McLellan's company Raggedy Ltd to drill up to 14 bores to a depth of 50m on the land.
The non-notified application received consent to search for a single domestic water supply from one bore per title.
If a significant amount of water was found, then a volume of up to 864cu m per day at a maximum rate of 10 litres per second may be applied for irrigation.
Mr Kohler said the Central Otago District Council was putting pressure on aquifers by permitting subdivision before water availability had been proven.
"Once the title is there, it is too late. The onus should be on the developer to actually prove there is adequate water before any subdivision is granted. There should be a far greater relationship between the two councils, especially since almost all of Otago is short of water. That way, at least the ORC would have some input into how much water was being promised when subdivisions were granted," he said.
Mr McLellan said putting down bores did not mean he was subdividing.
"The bores have nothing to do with subdivision . . .
You first need to find water before you can even decide on what direction farming would take, and no-one could get consent to build a house without a definite source of water."
