Community consultation on the possibility of making plan changes to the rural general zone "is going to cost us and bog us down for a long time", Cr Lyall Cocks warned a Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) committee yesterday.
Cr Cocks made the remark during a strategy committee discussion on the draft district plan monitoring report on the effectiveness and efficiency of the rural general zone. QLDC staff came back with reasons for recommendations on potential zone changes and ideas for consultation.
However, Cr Cocks said he had not heard anything that justified consultation and residents had the chance to attend public hearings.
"[If] we open the can on this, we're going to be in the Environment Court. In these economic times is this our highest priority?"
Cr Leigh Overton said the committee could make difficulties for itself on rural infrastructure. The QLDC was often asked to seal roads connecting subdivisions, and speed limit restrictions led to "highways that fail to function".
In the earlier public forum, resident Warwick Goldsmith said he was concerned that the draft report's 17 suggested actions could become recommendations. He said the recommendations would be a waste of time.
"Council should be able to come up with solutions to take to the public, with costs . . . Give people something in black and white which they can respond to."
When tabling the report, senior policy analyst Daniel Wells said how to manage cumulative effects on the landscape, rural infrastructure and the distances within the community were issues worth talking about.
He hoped the committee had confidence in the staff's ability to manage its budget and said councillors would decide if a plan change was "a good idea".
Cr Lex Perkins said he agreed with Mr Goldsmith, while Cr John R. Wilson noted the importance of visitor perceptions on the district's urbanisation. He suggested Destination Queenstown be involved in consultation.
Vision Planning consultative planner Vicki Jones said rural zone rules came through the Environment Court between 1999 and 2001 and the community was never consulted.
Cr Cath Gilmour said what questions and how they were asked were critical. Mr Goldsmith's concerns were "fair and correct" - issues were complex and the costs potentially huge.
Cr John S. Wilson said people moved to the district for the lifestyle and the council should not lose sight of that.
Mr Wells said he would come back to the committee with a more detailed report and how staff would manage consultation.
The strategy committee authorised council staff to prepare a consultation strategy on the future planning of planning controls in the rural zones of the district. All but Cr Cocks approved.
