Drummond and Etheridge, which currently operates a sale yard and service centre for agricultural machinery, including tractors, on Jones Rd plans to expand into a rural area on the outskirts of Rolleston.
The business is planning to develop a 4ha plot of land on Larcombs Rd, next to the motorway, owned by Drummond and Etheridge managing director Mark Etheridge.
A nearby resident told Selwyn Times: “The main concern is heavy, big transport trucks coming down the road.”
The resident, who declined to be named, said if the development goes ahead it would be an “eyesore” in an otherwise rural area.
He said about 25 residents from the area had met to discuss the proposal and are planning to put a petition together to oppose it.
Selwyn Times understands the site would have storage for incoming machinery as well as space for up to 25 staff, with a 3500sq m building to include a board room, among other facilities.
But Rolleston branch manager Murray Chesterman said there were no plans to move the dealership to the site from Jones Rd.
“The development in question is a parts distribution warehouse for the Drummond and Etheridge group,” he said.
The land is zoned general rural.
Selwyn District Council development and growth executive director Tim Harris said it has not received any form of consent application from Drummond and Etheridge.
"A consent for a business in this location would need to address issues around both the District Plan restrictions on commercial activity in rural zones and the National Policy Statement on highly productive land," Harris said.
"However, we have not received any inquiries about an application of this type and it is difficult to make any clear assessment without an application that actually lays out what is being sought."
Chesterman would not say if the company had a timeline for its applications to the district council.
