Neighbour’s stake in ground against Summerset village

entrance and require the removal of trees, Hedley’s submission said. His north-facing house would also lose its uninterrupted views, and instead would face the Summerset buildings.

A 2-metre-tall fence of netting, put up in 2004, would need to either remain or be replaced with a solid fence, and Hedley would need to approve the material and colour, and supervise and direct the work, he said.

The height of Summerset’s proposed main building, at 14.9m, was excessive, he said.

‘‘Such a towering structure will dominate the [to be] residential neighbourhood, and curtail the views. This is Roselands, not a utilitarian location – 10 metres should be the maximum.’’

Hedley’s submission was sent to the council of his own accord on March 12.

Submissions were normally received after the council decided if a proposal needed to be notified – either publicly, so anyone could submit, or limited, so affected parties could submit.

Notifying a proposal could be skipped if an applicant got written approval from all affected parties.

Summerset’s consultant emailed the council on March 29 asking to put the application on hold while it was ‘‘still liaising’’ with the owner of one property, trying to get written approval.

However, the council told Summerset it was going to notify the consent, on a limited basis, on Tuesday next week, with a submissions period until May 26.

Summerset general manager of development Aaron Smail said the company had no concerns about the project going to notification, as it was a standard part of the consent process.

He said he would reserve comment until any formal submissions were received.

‘‘We have formed good working relationships with most of our future neighbours and the council, and regard the planning process as going well,’’ Smail said.

‘‘However, we respect that people may have concerns, and we’ll gladly work through the democratic process with them. We remain excited about creating a wonderful, comprehensive-care retirement community that older Blenheim residents can be proud to live in.’’

During construction, Summerset villages usually provided direct employment for more than 200 people and indirect employment for ‘‘many more’’, he said.

‘‘There will also be up to 50 new permanent jobs in the retirement village once it’s fully operational, from nurses to gardeners to village managers.’’