A report recommends resource consent be granted for the Kakanui camping ground, but with conditions that address issues raised by those who oppose its operation.
Equipment and Support Ltd has applied to the Waitaki District Council for land use resource consent to operate visitor accommodation (the camping ground) on a 1.22ha site fronting Waianakarua Rd on the south side of the Kakanui River.
The application follows an Environment Court interim decision in October which limited operation of the camp to five caravan, campervan or tent sites, instead of the 30 that were available.
It also directed a resource consent application be filed with the council and processed as promptly as possible.
The report prepared by council policy planner Richard Sutherland will go to commissioner Allan Cubitt when he considers the application and opposition at a public hearing on February 7.
It is not binding on Mr Cubitt, and is only a recommendation the consent be granted.
The report said the adverse effects of the camping ground would not be significant, provided recommended changes through conditions were made to the operation.
The site was considered appropriate.
There were four submissions on the consent, three in opposition and one neutral.
They raised issues of road safety, increased traffic, noise, visual impact and the effect on neighbours and the area.
The report said the concerns raised by submitters could be met through conditions.
Some of those conditions included;
- Preparing a camp ground management report setting out rules for campers.
- A provision to review compliance with the consent if there was an adverse effect or circumstances changed.
- Reconstructing the entrance off Waianakarua Rd.
- Limiting the camping ground to five sites with access off Waianakarua Rd.
- Setting standards for improvements to the intersection of River and Waianakarua Rds and road reconstruction needed if the access was from River Rd, when up to 30 sites could be used.
- Provisions for signs, landscaping and engineering.
Questions over the legality of the camping ground go back about 15 years, to the late 1990s, when an application to the council to establish a tavern, licensed restaurant and camping ground on the site was declined.
Further applications for just a camping ground were made in 2005 and 2007.
The proposal has been to the Environment Court several times.
