The value of 80 million tonnes of high quality export coal is about to weighed up against nationally endangered and vulnerable animals and other rare flora and fauna - all residing in and around the Denniston Plateau looming above Westport, on the West Coast.
The landowner at the centre of an Environment Court hearing which could enable the building of one of the largest retail centres in New Zealand has submitted the council did not adequately consult the community.
A group of Wanaka landowners would be reassured the council would protect their rights to an unrestricted water supply, in accordance with an Environment Court ruling, the Queenstown Lakes District Council's infrastructure committee agreed this week.
The Environment Court has reserved its decision until May on a hearing considering noise from Queenstown Airport and surrounding future developments.
Some of the expected heat has come out of an Environmental Court hearing concerning noise and surrounding developments at Queenstown airport, as several parties have reached a compromise.
Changes afoot in regulations governing water use in Otago will influence the region's prosperity for years to come, the Otago Regional Council says. Rebecca Fox looks at the council's sometimes controversial approach to water quality and quantity.
The company behind the controversial Saddle Hill quarry says it wants Environment Court confirmation the hill "can be quarried without restriction".
Four weeks of Environment Court hearings are coming up in Queenstown early next year, all dedicated to inter-related Queenstown matters and dealing with airport noise.
Oceana Gold has appealed to the Environment Court claiming some conditions imposed on the resource consents to expand its Macraes Mine are "unnecessary and onerous".
Conflict over Wanaka Airport land-use designations will see the Queenstown Lakes District Council appealing its own decision to the Environment Court.
A High Court hearing yesterday signalled the next round of legal proceedings in the battle over whether a hydro-electric dam could be built on the Nevis River.
The way has been cleared for a large residential and hotel development on Mt Cardrona Station.
The Sharpridge Trust has appealed part of a resource consent decision relating to a proposed four-lot subdivision in Mt Aspiring Rd.
Environmental Court challenges have postponed upgrade plans for Westport's port, and the potential employment of hundreds of staff, until mediation or a court decision, allows coal miner Bathurst Resources to begin West Coast production.
A decision which will determine whether the Teschemakers Chapel's altar can be moved or if a resource consent process will be needed to do that will not be known until October.
Ngai Tahu and the partners in the new $200 million Hunter Downs irrigation scheme for Waimate have reached an agreement leading to the iwi withdrawing its appeal to the Environment Court.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has offered no further evidence in the long-running Environment Court appeal against a decision to grant consent to Glendhu Bay golf resort developer Parkins Bay Preserve Ltd (PBPL).
The reclassification of Central Otago landscapes will be tested in the Environment Court, with three power companies appealing recent changes to the district plan.
At least five groups will appeal to the Environment Court an independent panel's decision to grant Port Otago consent to dredge Otago Harbour and deposit spoil at sea.
Mediation between the two main parties in the battle over whether dams should be banned on the Nevis River has collapsed, with Pioneer Generation saying its offer to restrict any potential hydro development to the "least impact" dam was rejected.
