Lakes Marina Projects Ltd (LMP) was recently granted consent from the Queenstown Lakes District and Otago Regional councils.
The appeals could delay construction of the marina by more than a year, but Iraj Barabi, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and LMP director, says there is no chance he will walk away from the project.
''We won't let something like this derail us,'' Mr Barabi said.
''To us, they're wasting everyone's time and money but it's their prerogative.
''It's personally frustrating, but business-wise we look at the big picture of how much work we've done, how committed we are to Queenstown and this project, and how far we've come down the line.''
Former racing driver and ex-Mataura mayor Ian ''Inky'' Tulloch and wife Annette have appealed, as have Benchmark Homes owners Richard and Natasha Evans, of Christchurch.
Both the Evanses and Tullochs own homes by the marina.
They believe the adverse effects on the environment are more than minor, the appeal says, and the development is contrary to the objectives of the Queenstown council's district plan and Otago Regional Council's regional plan.
They also said there had been insufficient information about noise effects of the proposed dredging of the lake bed, traffic effects on the Sugar Lane/Frankton Rd junction, and the possible use of land for fabrication of marina parts.
They wanted conditions imposed or existing conditions varied.
Mr Barbari said the objections were unfortunate.
''We were hoping we would be able to move quickly and start construction of the marina in four to six months.
''If we thought this was going to have a negative impact on Queenstown we wouldn't do it.''
Queenstown man Alan Kirker - part of the LMP consortium which also includes Mr Barabi's brother Nasser - said 88 concessions had already been made to address concerns.
''It's been four years of work and talking to the community.
''This is about providing a community asset at no cost to the community.''
The 195-berth marina at Frankton Arm is expected to be built in two stages.
Stage one sees 85 berths, a 170m breakwater, 150m retaining wall, jetty and associated features, car park and buildings.
Stage two is is 110 additional berths, an extension of the breakwater to 320m, and further buildings.
Mountain Scene
