Queenstown luxury lodge developer called ‘desperate’
Debbie Jaimeson
A developer’s changing plans for a Queenstown luxury lodge are signs of his growing desperation to get a resource consent, a lawyer says. Graeme Todd is representing the Bob’s Cove-Punatapu Community Trust in the Environment Court, which opposes plans for the 24-unit Waimarino luxury lodge in Bob’s Cove.
Queenstown Lakes District Council independent commissioners declined resource consent for the lodge in 2022 and Waimarino Queenstown appealed the decision to the court.
The company has dropped plans to subdivide the site and sell individual villas to fund the project, cut four villas from the original plan and ditched plans for a storage shed and distillery.
A spa, sauna, yoga studio, and restaurant remain part of the plan.
Todd told the court that every time an issue with the proposal had been raised during the four-day hearing, the company dealt with it by withdrawing elements of the plan. “It appears to us that this is a situation where ... the developer is desperate to get a consent,” he said.
It was a very desirable place for a lodge, he said. “I can understand why [owner] Mr McIntosh is so keen to get this consent. The value would be extremely high.”
However, there was no evidence showing how the company could afford the development now that the subdivision plan had been dropped, he said.
Australian-based Waimarino Queenstown owner Andrew McIntosh, who founded tour company Kiwi Experience, earlier told the court he was not a developer. He had intended to fund the lodge development by selling subdivided villas but would now find a new capital model, he said.
The lodge would operate as a hotel with guests paying a tariff to stay.
Waimarino lawyer Bal Matheson said McIntosh had spent millions of dollars on the lodge proposal.
“The efforts have been made to try and find something that is consentable and workable and fits into the environment,” he said.
Todd said that despite the changes the company had made, the proposal remained inappropriate in Bob’s Cove and was contrary to the objectives and policies of the Queenstown Lakes district plans.
It was “extremely disappointing” that the 14-person trust had found itself defending the commissioners’ decision on behalf of the council, because the council was now supporting the appeal, he said.
Judge Prudence Steven said it was an unusual position for the council.
Council lawyer Mary Davenport told the court on Wednesday the change of position was due to the changes to the proposal.
Todd said he was also concerned that the council was not able to show a record of site coverage in the Bob’s Cove zone, which meant the court did not have the information it needed to make a decision
The zone requires 75% of land to be undomesticated and 50% maintained with indigenous vegetation cover.
The judge said it was the responsibility of the council to monitor the overall coverage but the council’s principal planner indicated it had not been done, while giving evidence.
Todd said the council “clearly” did not understand the commissioners’ rejection of the proposal as it ignored aspects of the decision in its evidence to the court, including cultural impacts.
The commissioners found that Hokonui Runanga opposed the proposal and it would have adverse effects on cultural values, largely due to the effects on the landscape.
Other concerns with the proposal raised by Todd included storage of site equipment without a storage shed, and a special lodge membership available to eight people when the company had initially said it would be open to guests only.
There was no evidence from an expert in “green” roofs with live vegetation, despite the company relying on the roofs to integrate the development into the landscape, he said. Judge Steven and commissioners Kate Wilkinson and James Baines reserved their decision.