The Queenstown Lakes District Council has applied to Lakes Environmental for retrospective resource consent for up to 10,950 landings a year.
The council has allowed commercial helicopters to land on the concrete helipad 40m from the Skyline Restaurant and Bar since 1986 but has never had resource consent under the Resource Management Act.
Following a hearing, independent commissioners John Matthews and David Whitney decided to publicly notify the application, giving the public a chance to have their say.
Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters Ltd chief executive Pat West says his company has had consent to land at the Skyline and gondola since 1986.
"Consent was granted to us. It is legally binding and issued to us by council, signed by the town clerk. It was granted with two or three conditions, which we have complied with," he said.
The retrospective resource consent application did not affect his company's operation.
"We're just going to carry on with our business and exercise our right under existing consent," he said.
Retrospective resource consent for existing landing sites had cost Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters nearly $60,000.
"It has cost a lot of people a lot of money. I'm not interested in what the council is doing or what commissioners say. We have consent to continue and we will continue to exercise our right," he said. He would not participate in the consent process by lodging a submission.
Arthurs Point resident Clive Manners-Wood said the decision to publicly notify the application sent a clear message to the council that the public had a right to have their views heard.
"Ben Lomond is a recreational reserve, one of the few we have. Reserves are owned by ratepayers and it us up to ratepayers to say what activities they want there or not," he said.
He said the council should not pursue the application because it goes against one of the main objectives of the reserves management plan - to preserve natural solitude.
In the decision Mr Matthews said council charged $3 per landing but did not keep a record of flight numbers.
The council estimates about 1500 flights land at the helipad per year but applied for up to 30 landings per day, which equates to 10,950 landings per year.
Council community services manager Paul Wilson told the hearing on May 20 the council had not received any complaints about noise or any other aspects of the helicopter activities on the site.
The council did not think the application should be publicly notified because it believed any adverse effects would be minor.
Lakes Environmental planner Wendy Rolls recommended the application be publicly notified because the adverse effects might be more than minor.
Mr Matthews said potential adverse effects were noise, smell and fumes.
"The consent applied for retrospectively is for an unlimited number of flights, or perhaps around seven times the number presently using the helipad on an annual basis . . . On the basis of the material placed before us, we are not satisfied that the effects of this activity on the environment will be minor," he said.
Lakes Environment chief executive Hamish Dobbie said no date had been set for public submissions or hearings yet.
It would cost Lakes Environmental up to $6000 to prepare reports and set up the hearing, he said.
The council could not be reached for comment yesterday.
