A dispute about whether seed drilling within the Upper Manorburn/Lake Onslow landscape management area near Ettrick is allowed has come before the Environment Court.
Greenfield Rural Opportunities Ltd and the Central Otago District Council (CODC) are involved in the dispute, which will be decided by the court.
Environment Court Judge Jon Jackson heard the case at Queenstown recently and reserved the court's decision.
In March last year, the CODC issued an abatement notice to Greenfield, demanding the company cease seed drilling on a rural property near Ettrick.
Under the council's district plan, the property was subject to rules regarding the Upper Manorburn/Lake Onslow landscape management area, with particular regard to seeding land covered with indigenous vegetation.
CODC planning and environment manager Louise van der Voort said the dispute centred on Greenfield and the council's different interpretations of the district plan.
"The plan states direct seed drilling on pasture is permitted within the management area and Greenfield says tussock on the property is existing pasture, whereas the council believes the tussock is indigenous vegetation, which the plan seeks to protect.
"We [the council] sought a declaration from the Environment Court as to whether we were correctly interpreting the plan," she said.
Ms van der Voort said it was important for the council to be absolutely sure of the plan and what it allowed.
"We are aware that this rule may apply to a number of areas within the district," she said.
If the Environment Court declared the council's interpretation to be correct, Greenfield would have to apply for retrospective consent for the drilling it had already undertaken, as it would have breached the district plan.
It would be the second time Greenfield had been made to apply for consent after receiving an abatement notice from the council in recent years.
In February, the company was granted retrospective land-use consent, subject to nine conditions, for earthworks on the same rural property near Ettrick.
The work was associated with forming and gravelling a track to better align access to Lake Onslow Station with topography of the property, and started in February last year.
Greenfield applied for retrospective consent after the council issued an abatement notice to cease work following several complaints from people in the area.
The amended access deviated from an original farm track by 200m and breached a boundary of the property by 15m.
Gravel was required to make the track accessible in all weather conditions.
