Conflict over Wanaka Airport land-use designations will see the Queenstown Lakes District Council appealing its own decision to the Environment Court.
At this week's strategy committee meeting, council senior policy analyst Ralph Henderson revealed the QLDC would be joining Jeremy Bell Investments Ltd as an appellant.
Running parallel to Plan Change 26, which seeks to determine the long-term future of Wanaka Airport, two notices of requirement for land-use designations were changed by the council when it adopted the plan in August.
The move sees the QLDC covering itself after the modification of the decision of commissioners Bob Batty and Stephen Chiles, caused, in part, by an appeal on the decision.
Commissioners Batty and Chiles considered 18 public submissions at a three-day hearing in June, and notified their decision on September 14.
The appeal means that if the Environment Court decides council had no jurisdiction to make the changes, it still has the chance to seek those changes.
QLDC general manager policy and planning Philip Pannett said the phenomenon happened sometimes "when we accept a plan change with things in it that we don't like".
JBIL is appealing parts of the decision controlling or restricting land uses on Criffel Station to the west of State Highway 6, and those parts of the commissioners' decision the QLDC tried to amend.
The investment company is owned by Wanaka and Alexandra-based shareholders, with the directors listed as Jeremy and Amanda Bell, of Wanaka.
Air New Zealand, the only airline to make a submission on the plan change, will also have limited involvement in the hearing as a section 274 party.
Wanaka Airport designation 64 concerns aerodrome purposes, and designation 65 approach and land use controls.
