An Environment Court decision on the former Hawthorn Estate development in Queenstown could now mean buyers of the subdivided properties have to develop water features and mounds in accordance with the original resource consent.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council asked the Environment Court to rule whether the ponds and mounds required in the original consent still had to be included when the land was developed.
Situated in an area known as "the triangle" in the Wakatipu Basin between Domain and Lower Shotover Rds, the highly contested consent granted in 2004 allowed the subdividing of a 34ha block into 32 residential lots.
The original application lodged with the QLDC in 2000 included a Water Feature and Mounding Plan (WFMP) which showed extensive landscaping with ponds as water features on each site, and earth mounds to create privacy between lots.
The original 2000 proposal drew many opponents, due to concerns about visual amenities and introducing urban population densities into the rural general zone, and the QLDC refused to grant consent. Hawthorn appealed to the Environment Court, and got consent.
The QLDC unsuccessfully appealed to the High Court and the Court of Appeal, after which the case returned to the Environment Court, which decided in 2006 that, subject to amended conditions, the project should be given final approval.
However, since then, the land has been subdivided and onsold by original developers Warwick Goldsmith (now of Arcadian Triangle Ltd) and Fred van Brandenburg, of Freddi Ltd.
In the latest judgement issued on March 25, Environment Court Judge Melanie Harland ruled that despite Arcadian's arguments, building the ponds and mounds was still a condition of the consent, as they were an integral part of the proposal.
"... the proposal was presented as an integrated and comprehensive development where the conservation gains to be made by the introduction of water-birds through the use of ponds narrowly outweighed the extent of development in a rural environment."
Half of Hawthorn was bought, subdivided and onsold by Arcadian Triangle, with the rest bought and onsold by Freddi.
Following subdivision, a total of 14 lots are now owned by different parties, with Arcadia still owning one 4ha section.
QLDC regulatory and corporate services general manager Roger Taylor said the law stated landowners had to take responsibility for complying with consent issues.
"So even though the owners of the land may change over time, the owners for the time being of the land are the ones who have the responsibility."
Counsel for Arcadian and original Hawthorn developer Warwick Goldsmith yesterday said he had not yet read the whole judgement and was unsure of its implications.
"My initial reaction is that there are a number of affected landowners, all of whom will have to make their own decisions, and I'm not sure what the impact of the decision is on all the properties that have already been subdivided."
"What the decision does - I've read the front page - it says the ponds and mounds are required under the present consent and of course individual owners are free to apply for a variation to change that, anyway."
Mr van Brandenburg of Freddi Ltd could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Concerned Shotover Rd resident, and a member of community opposition Triangle Group, Jeff Williams, said the group could not agree more with the judge's decision.
"Speaking only for myself, as a mere layman I could not understand how legal minds and the owners of the land could interpret it any other way. I always found it quite staggering that people were being told something different."
He said landowners might need to go "back to the original 14-lot subdivision that didn't require any berms and ponds."
"It hopefully rounds off a sorry state of affairs that happened when there was a certain cowboy attitude to the Arcadian landscape around here. It hopefully truly says that you have to listen to the judge's decision and not put a post-interpretation on it."
