The claims were brought by the Queenstown Lakes District Council, which granted the consent, and by the applicant, the trust.
Society secretary Julian Haworth said, when contacted yesterday, he now believed there was a "snowflake's chance in hell" applicants would succeed in two other pending costs applications against the society.
"There seems to be a concerted effort by landowners to try and drive the society out of business by hitting it with costs applications they know it cannot pay," Mr Haworth said.
Judge Fred McElrea held in his decision of July 27 a costs award would be unjust.
Costs should not be awarded as a penalty and any lessons that needed to be learned by the appellant's witnesses had been conveyed in the decision, he said.
The council claimed $42,878.81, representing "a fraction over 50%" of its costs.
The trust claimed $125,000, being "less than 30%" of its costs".
The council and the trust said the appeal lacked substance and presentation and the appellant had refused to enter meaningful negotiations.
The trust said an increased award of costs was justified because the appellant's methods caused significant prejudice and unnecessary costs.
Judge McElrea did not agree the appeal was without substance and accepted many of the society's arguments against paying the costs.
The 15-year-old society had performed "an important public service" presenting a point of view that would not have otherwise been raised.
It would be unfair to lumber the society with crippling costs when it had acted as an unpaid advocate on matters of public interest that the council had to consider, Judge McElrea said.
He agreed that because of the appeal, the consent represented a better outcome from an environmental point of view than if it had been implemented with the conditions imposed by the council.
The appeal had also clarified legal issues, Judge McElrea said.
Mr Haworth said a "we won, you lost" approach by applicants was simplistic.
The society's appeals often resulted in a range of outcomes that would be regarded as positive by the community, such as covenants and conditions.
The costs decision had given the embattled society added incentive to continue fighting inappropriate development in outstanding natural landscape, rural zones and lakeside areas in the Upper Clutha region, Mr Haworth said.
"Without the society, planning in the rural areas would be a dog's breakfast," he said.
Deputy mayor John S. Wilson, of Wanaka, said yesterday he could not comment on the court decision, but the council would abide by it.
The remaining pending costs decisions are the Pezaro case (building platform in the Cardrona Valley) and the Mead case (building platform and subdivision on Dingleburn Station, Lake Hawea). In both cases, the applicants are seeking costs from the society. The council is also seeking costs in the Pezaro case but not the Mead case.
