Meditate on this: Pacifists take aim at pistol range
A north Auckland meditation centreis heading to the High Court in an attempt to stop a proposed gun club disrupting its tranquility.
Their efforts to overturn a certificate of compliance, which could see a gun club opening in their quiet neighbourhood, could be a serious stumbling block to the project.
Last year Raymond O’Brien and Victoria Pichler were issued a certificate of compliance from Auckland Council for two pistol areas comprising a six-bay shooting range they planned to develop on their newly acquired lifestyle block in rural Makarau.
Manager of resource consenting Ian Dobson said under the council’s district plan this is a permitted recreational pursuit in rural areas.
O’Brien and Pichler had plans to quickly expand the range from six bays to 30, including two shotgun ranges and a rifle range with the backing of the Auckland Shooting Club – which would make it one of the biggest facilities of its kind in the country.
Meanwhile, down the road, up to 1500 meditators a year hand in their cellphones in at the Vipassana Meditation Centre, sit cross-legged and suspend all connection with the outside world for 10 days while they observe their breathing in silence.
Vipassana meditators are not the only ones upset with the plans, other neighbours to the Tuhirangi Rd property were angry they weren’t consulted. Many only found out about the plans by accident on the club’s website.
Auckland Council maintains neighbours don’t need to be consulted for a certificate of compliance and the bigger plan didn’t need to be taken into account as resource consents would have been needed for parts of it.
While not a direct neighbour, the Vipassana Meditation Centre has serious concerns that noise from the gun club would be a serious distraction for meditators who have been coming to their nearby property for quiet contemplation for over 30 years.
The Vipassana Trust started legal proceedings in December last year challenging the Auckland Council’s granting of the compliance certificate. The case will be heard in the Auckland High Court next month.
Auckland Council says it will abide by the court’s decision.
O’Brien is upbeat about the court hearing and is confident the certification will stand.
‘‘Even if it is voided we still have a valid application. We would simply fix the things that need doing,’’ he said.
But despite the optimism, if the court maintains the certificate shouldn’t have been issued there could be some serious issues for O’Brien and Pichler.
If certification is out the gun club may not be able to operate on the site until a resource consent is granted.
The club is planning to open on July 1 for the general membership.
It has been confirmed Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett will officially open the Auckland Shooting Club and Range Facilities on July 7.