An amusement park and tourist attraction near Wanaka Airport has received the go-ahead from a Queenstown Lakes District Council resource consent panel.
Independent commissioners David Collins and Sally Middleton granted the consent, with conditions, last week, following a public hearing on March 1.
They have acknowledged their decision may encourage other non-farming, commercial and recreational activities to consolidate around the airport but they did not see this as "a bad thing" because they could co-locate rather than intrude into other rural locations.
The developer is the Ross and Judy Young Family Trust and the project manager is Mr and Mrs Young's son, Eamon.
The Invercargill family founded Crown Sheet Metal in 1974 and sold it to Hamilton-based NDA Group in 2008.
Mr (Eamon) Young said yesterday there was no firm start date for building work, but if there was no appeal lodged by June 9, he would instruct Invercargill architects GM Designs to complete all the construction drawings and then appoint a builder.
The consent applies to a 20ha section of rural general zoned land on the corner of State Highway 6 and Mt Barker Rd, opposite Wanaka Airport and Have A Shot, covering about 5000sq m in the corner closest to the intersection.
It will comprise two buildings containing an indoor tenpin bowling alley, bar, restaurant and workshop and there will also be an outdoor kart track, bumper-boat pond and a large car park.
Lakes Environmental planner Michelle Grinlinton-Hancock recommended the development be refused, because the nature, scale and location of the buildings would have more than minor adverse effects on the environment and she suggested the complex be built on industrial or business-zoned land, or within the Three Parks development on the outskirts of Wanaka.
The commissioners said the character of the local environment was defined by existing large hangars, the Toy and Transport Museum, and Have a Shot.
They noted differing opinions on the importance of views of and across the site from the two public roads and whether proposed mounds would look artificial.
"We appreciate any sign of the development would be a reminder to the submitters that the site contains an unwelcome activity, but we do not foresee any serious detraction from their outlook," the commissioners said.
They also noted the applicant had volunteered to landscape and use the remaining 83% of the property only for farming purposes.
The commissioners accepted karts would be audible "but we do not equate audible with creating an adverse effect".
