Dunedin residents Richard and Jo Morshuis have sought council permission to formalise their use of Kyle St, a small and informal road running off Cosy Dell Rd, in Dunedin.
The road cuts through council-owned Town Belt reserve land and is for use by vehicles driving to the Cosy Dell Tennis Club.
It is also used as a driveway by the owners of several adjacent homes - including Mr and Mrs Morshuis - near the tennis club.
The couple hope to build a student accommodation unit at their home, at 62 Queen St, and want to formalise their right to use the road as the access for six car parks planned as part of the development.
However, a report by council community and recreation services manager Mick Reece has recommended the request be refused.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday, Mr Reece said the proposal would require a change in the legal status of the road, and an upgrade.
The upgrade would mean the "little green tunnel" of road through bush would be widened, with a "significant" area of bush needing to be cleared.
The upgrade could also attract more traffic and set a precedent for other informal roads in the Town Belt, he said.
"The Town Belt is a very sensitive thing for council . . . [which] has tried to take quite a strong position in terms of protecting the Town Belt.
"It's a pretty important piece of real estate," Mr Reece said.
The couple's application would be considered at a meeting of the council's community development committee today.
Mr Morshuis could not be contacted yesterday, but in a letter to the council said access to his house - which was built in 1905 - had been through the Town Belt "for well over 100 years", as steep terrain blocked vehicle access at the front of his property.
The student accommodation development he was planning required at least three car parks for resource consent, which would be "difficult" at the front of the house.
The development had been the subject of negotiations with neighbours since an application for resource consent was rejected by the Dunedin City Council last year, and later appealed to the Environment Court.
Mr Morshuis said neighbours were now happy with an agreed proposal, which would result in a consent memorandum being filed with the Environment Court once access issues were resolved.
A report by Mr Reece, to be considered at today's meeting, said the council had the discretion to grant or refuse requests under the Reserves Act 1977, and the historic use of the road did not give the couple legal rights.
Any redevelopment of the road would not fit with the council's Town Belt management plan, and would also require public consultation and approval from the Minister of Conservation, the report said.
