Royalburn Farming Company Ltd is seeking consent to subdivide more than 100ha at 464 Crown Range Rd into 20 lots, each with a building platform.
A hearing before independent commissioners Michael Parker and Gillian Macleod started yesterday and continues today.
Company solicitor Russell Ibbotson told the hearing the subdivision would be hidden from view and would not interrupt day-to-day farming operations in the area.
He said the proposal had been carefully planned with measures to mitigate adverse effects including design controls, ecological enhancement and planting plans.
The lots would range in size from 7775sq m to 1.0997ha, each with a 1000sq m building platform.
The 89ha balance lot would be retained in farming use, the application said.
Lakes Environmental Planning team leader Christian Martin has recommended the proposal be declined because it would have significant adverse effects on the environment, particularly over-domestication of the visual amenity landscape.
Mr Ibbotson said by limiting buildings to appropriate clusters, almost all of the flat land at the Crown Terrace would be clear for farming activities.
Fourteen submissions were initially received on the application, but four were later withdrawn.
Of the 10 remaining submissions, five recommended consent be refused.
Mr Ibbotson said some some people had withdrawn from the submission process after the company consulted them and addressed their concerns.
He said the company agreed to conditions suggested by submitters and a Lakes Environmental engineer's report.
The proposal would protect open space from further development with a condition that all land outside the building platforms be retained for agricultural use, he said.
It would improve the area's ecology with the planting of native shrub and tree species, rabbit and weed control and provide the opportunity to establish new trails.
The Wakatipu Trails Trust made a neutral submission on the proposal but called for off-road access over the Crown Terrace and public access easements.
The commissioners will hear from submitters today.
