Judge Jackson decided sections of plan change 30 relevant to Arrowtown would be "ring-fenced" with plan change 29 and 39 for one hearing with the rest adjourned until early June.
Evidence on the three plan changes will be heard over six months, beginning on September 2 with experts giving evidence on behalf of Roger Monk, who is behind the Arrowtown South development.
This will be followed by evidence from the Queenstown Lakes District Council on October 7, and any expert evidence from Dame Elizabeth Hanan and husband Murray on November 4.
A caucus will then take place between the experts to decide what evidence is agreed on and they will report back on December 16, after which any layperson evidence will be heard on January 27, followed by rebuttal evidence on February 10.
Judge Jackson said the hearing would take place sometime next year, "probably in the second quarter".
The complicated series of plan changes have been grouped together since September 2009.
Plan Change 29 relates specifically to the Arrowtown township, seeking to fix boundaries, which would effectively contain Arrowtown's growth within the existing residential boundary.
Running alongside is Plan Change 30, a district-wide urban boundary document, addressing what would happen if a developer wanted to create a subdivision outside any area's boundariesFinally, Plan Change 39: Arrowtown South, was a private plan change, lodged by a group of landowners, including Mr Monk.
It sought to establish 215 houses on 17ha of land, bounded by Centennial Ave, the Arrowtown Golf Course, and The Hills Golf Course, on McDonnell Rd.
The proposal would have seen 12ha of land used for publicly accessible open space and 1ha as a "community hub" featuring a village store, child-care centre and other facilities.
About 540 submissions were received by the Queenstown Lakes District Council on Plan Change 29, 100 on the Urban Boundary Framework and more than 500 on Arrowtown South.
Hearings on the plan changes were held in Arrowtown last April and May, with independent commissioners notifying their decision in October last year.
The council voted to adopt their recommendations - to create a tight urban boundary, making Arrowtown the first place in the district with a defined urban boundary; accepting the urban boundary and rejecting the Arrowtown South proposal.
