A $3 million Roman Catholic primary school near Arrowtown has been been approved by the Queenstown Lakes District Council, despite opposition from residents in the area.
In a decision released yesterday, the Catholic Bishop of Dunedin, the Most Rev Colin Campbell, has been granted resource consent, with 22 conditions, for a 112-pupil primary school at Speargrass Flat valley.
The church runs St Josephs School in Queenstown, which has more than 160 pupils, but it cannot be expanded and has been full for several years.
The development will be under the umbrella of the existing school and primarily cater for children from Arrowtown and Lake Hayes Estate.
It is understood the development, on a 2.6ha section on the corner of Speargrass Flat Rd and Slope Hill Rd, is worth more than $3 million.
The application was heard by independent commissioners David Collins and Leigh Overton in February.
In their decision, they said the need for additional facilities for Catholic primary education in the Wakatipu basin was urgent, with "steadily rising demand".
Of 28 submissions, 26 were against, and Lakes Environmental planner Philippa Riddell recommended the application be declined.
Eighteen opponents presented submissions raising concerns about noise and traffic.
The commissioners' report said they set aside "far-fetched concerns" such as the possibility of stags escaping from nearby farmland and running amok among the children; children drowning in the shallow water of the creek on the land; and concern the school would discourage people from visiting the nearby art gallery.
They acknowledged the concern of neighbours but believed adverse effects were exaggerated.
They found the school could operate within the noise standard and the increase in traffic on Speargrass Flat Rd would not lead to any significant delays.
However, the commissioners said traffic on the road would double at peak times, which would be "noticeable and detrimental to amenity".
They said traffic safety concerns could be addressed by conditions and monitoring.
The school must encourage shared transport and discourage pupils from walking along Speargrass Flat Rd.
The school must also encourage people dropping off and collecting pupils to drive into the school and not stop on the road.
The school would be built in two stages.
The first would cater for up to 84 pupils and 10 staff.
Stage two would convert temporary office and staff facilities into a fourth classroom and would go ahead only if needed.
