A proposal to formalise use of a small road in the Dunedin Town Belt, which Dunedin City Council staff feared could threaten established bush and set a dangerous precedent, has been rejected.
Dunedin residents Richard and Jo Morshuis had sought an "easement in perpetuity" to formalise their use of Kyle St as the access to the rear of their property at 62 Queen St.
The couple hoped to develop a new student accommodation unit at the address, and wanted to formalise access arrangements to six car parks planned as part of the development as a condition of resource consent.
However, councillors at yesterday's community development committee meeting voted unanimously to reject the application.
Cr Michael Guest expressed some sympathy with the Morshuis' application, but said "most if not all" councillors were concerned about the potential impact widening the road would have on the surrounding Town Belt reserve.
Any precedent that would be set by granting the easement also needed wider scrutiny, he believed.
The decision came after councillors considered a staff report recommending the application be rejected, and heard from council staff and the Morshuis' barrister, Trevor Shiels, who made a brief statement.
Council community and recreation policy team leader Lisa Wheeler confirmed, based on advice from the council's transportation planning department, an easement in perpetuity would require the road to be widened from 2.5m to 8m.
The alternative was to maintain the existing informal use of the single-lane road "at the council's pleasure", but that option would not meet the requirements of the Morshuis' separate application for resource consent for their student accommodation development, she said.
The couple's development plans had been the subject of negotiations with neighbours since their application for resource consent was rejected by the council last year, and later appealed to the Environment Court.
In a letter to councillors, Mr Morshuis said negotiations with neighbours were now complete, but the agreement was subject to access issues being resolved with the council.
Addressing councillors yesterday, Mr Shiels said the council could exercise discretion by granting an easement, which was "not a new incursion into the Town Belt".
He denied it would create a precedent for other informal roads in the Town Belt, saying it would simply recognise historic access to the Morshuis' property.
Mr Morshuis could not be contacted for comment. The couple do not live at their Queen St property, which was built in 1905 and which they purchased as an investment.
