A resource consent hearing to determine if the historic Thurlby Domain, near Arrowtown, can continue to host events may reconvene next month.
The application, lodged by owners Vicki and Revell Buckham, was the subject of a two-day hearing this week — at the outset, the Buckhams’ counsel, Rebecca Wolt, outlined changes to the application, like reducing the scale, capping all events at six hours, implementing curfews for certain areas of the property and ‘‘respite’’ periods between events.
They also planned to prohibit parking on Speargrass Flat Road, and prepare a noise management plan.
The proposal — initially to host up to 100 events a year at the property, developed in the 1870s by Bendix Hallenstein — attracted 31 submissions, 15 in opposition, 14 in support, and two seeking changes.
On Tuesday, lawyer Jayne Macdonald, representing 13 of the 15 opposing submitters, said it set an ‘‘undesirable precedent’’.
The council had a transition plan, allowing for temporary events, when the property was purchased by the Buckhams in the 1990s, but due to the way the proposal’s been lodged, she contends it falls well outside the definition of a ‘temporary venue’, and allowing 100 events a year means between November and April there’ll be activity at the property every day.
Macdonald told independent commissioners Lee Beattie and Wendy Baker there’s no commitment to heritage values in the application and some of the buildings are unsafe to use, while also questioning the practicality of conditions offered and noting consent’s not been sought for the sale of alcohol or portable toilets.
‘‘The conditions proposed are numerous, complex and increasingly put the onus on the QLDC rather than determining it through the consent process.
‘‘It is not like the hiring of the local hall.
“You are given the keys, you lock the door and turn off the lights … this is complicated,’’ she said.
Planner Sussanah Tait, also on behalf of the opposing submitters, said the applicants are of good character but that doesn’t allow granting of consent.
Tait said events could be stacked up, with two potentially held on the same day, leading to 12 hours’ continuous activity.
The Buckhams, who’ve restored several historic buildings at the property and regularly host community groups and private events, filed a consent application after discovering consent was needed to hold more than 14 ‘‘temporary’’ annual events.
The council’s recommended consent be declined because the events didn’t qualifiy as ‘temporary’ activities, but are deemed to be ‘‘commercial’’, and contrary to the area’s amenity values.
Wolt told commissioners the Buckhams have consent under the district plan to hold 14 temporary events a year, but it’s not enough to cater to demand from the community, and they don’t want to ‘‘close the gates’’.
‘‘[They] wish to be able to continue to share it with others and to maintain and restore its heritage.
‘‘They see themselves as custodians of the property and are committed to seeing it endure for future generations,’’ Wolt said.
Commissioners requested more information on marquees and walls by October 14 — depending on that, the hearing may be reconvened.
— Additional reporting: Lucy Wormald
