Stormwater and parking major issues

QUEENSTOWN: An Environment Court judge says unless Skyline Enterprises Ltd can resolve issues around parking and stormwater, it is likely consent for its gondola development will be declined.

However, in a minute Judge John Hassan issued yesterday afternoon, he gave Skyline several options to consider — one of which was to apply for a direct referral to the court over its proposed car parking building.

After the third day of the hearing into the company’s direct referral for its $100 millionplus redevelopment of the gondola and facilities, Judge Hassan said the court’s preliminary view was to withhold making a final decision.

While he and commissioners Kate Wilkinson and Russell Howie were in a position to make a determination on several aspects of Skyline’s proposal, the ‘‘elephants in the room’’ — the car parking and storm water runoff down the slopes of Ben Lomond — appeared to cause some difficulty.

While the latter may be able to be resolved pending further discussions, the issue of the car park was not as simple.

Conditions offered by Skyline for the car park were ‘‘not valid or appropriate’’ as they stood.

While a conditionbased approach could work, it would need to ‘‘deliver certainty’’ around necessary mitigation and provide ‘‘certainty’’ the car parking could be secured and an ‘‘absolute exclusion’’ around commissioning the redeveloped building until the car park had been commissioned.

The court, however, did not necessarily conclude a car parking building needed to be constructed, Judge Hassan said.

‘‘A conditioned approach is theoretically possible and that could involve a building already in place, already consented and . . . able to be used in the manner described.’’

That building needed to be ‘‘within a fiveminute walk or thereabouts’’ of the bottom terminal, subject to further discussions.

One potential option could be the Man St car park. Earlier yesterday, the court heard it had been developed to its capacity of 500 car parks but Southern Planning Group lodged a resource consent application several years ago, seeking to add additional floors. That application had been on hold since 2006, pending further information.

Moving forward, Judge Hassan said the court could either issue an interim decision and ‘‘park all procedural steps’’ until Skyline had lodged its application and it had been finally determined, including any appeals.

That, however, ‘‘could see an uncertain and inordinate delay’’.

The alternative was to park procedures beyond issuing an interim decision, allowing Skyline to also make an application for the car park to be direct referred to the court. The council indicated it would not oppose a direct referral application. The hearing continues today. tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz