Consent for the Pak'n Save supermarket - which is expected to employ 250 full- and part-time staff - was originally refused by the Queenstown Lakes District Council, but it may now open as early as next year.
Porter Group director Alastair Porter has worked with Foodstuffs for years to establish the supermarket.
"We're just delighted," he said yesterday of the Environment Court decision.
"This is about affordable groceries for members of our community, and will be a $30 million investment at a time when business development is seen as relatively stagnant."
Foodstuffs property and development manager Roger Davidson told the Otago Daily Times last night he was "really pleased" with Judge Jon Jackson's ruling, which he described as a "huge step along the road" after several years of planning.
Construction of the supermarket would take between nine and 12 months and, provided the proposal was not appealed, it was hoped Pak'n Save Queenstown could be open next year, he said.
In granting resource consent, Judge Jackson and two independent commissioners included specific conditions relating to Pak'n Save's distinctive yellow and black signs.
The decision document said "a review condition shall be included so that the Queenstown Lakes District Council may review once each year whether the size and colour of all signs [including on the building's elevations] shall be toned down [or changed completely] so long as any sign is visible from State Highway 6".
Judge Jackson and commissioners Ken Fletcher and Heather McConachy found "while the site itself is rural in character, the Frankton Flats as a whole are now non-rural in appearance" and disputed the council's claims the area was a "visual amenity landscape".
It was pointed out that it was "common ground" among all parties the Frankton Flats area was "other rural landscape".
"Given this view, it is baffling that the council has maintained before us that the Frankton Flats are, after all, still a 'visual amenity landscape'."
Judge Jackson said the Foodstuffs proposal "is expressly contemplated by the most relevant objective in the operative district plan" in promoting integrated and attractive development.
The QLDC refused consent for the supermarket in October last year, which resulted in the referral to the Environment Court.
Following the council's decision, the developers of a planned Mitre 10 Mega on the same site applied directly to the Environment Court for consent and the projects were jointly the subject of a hearing in May.
The court's decision on the Mitre 10 Mega proposal is expected to be released soon.
The numbers
• $30 million development.
• On 6603sq m at Frankton Flats.
• Part of proposed $100 million Shotover Park Retail development.
• Will create 250 jobs, making it the district's largest employer, second to NZSki
• Operating hours 7am to midnight seven days a week.
• Construction timeframe: Nine to 10 months once roading and infrastructure built.
• Tentative opening date: 2013.
SOURCE: Foodstuffs
