November 2nd, 2011

Charter Hall resource consent application to go to Environment Court hearing

Hastings District Council has agreed to a request from The Park Mega Centre developer, Charter Hall, to allow a resource consent application to be directly referred to the Environment Court.

The consent application requests that the floor area of the proposed buildings at the Mega Centre be reduced from the required 1000 square metres to between 500 and 670 square metres.

Allowing direct referral to the Environment Court will remove the need for a council hearing and then a possible appeal to the court.

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule says "A hearing on this application would need to be heard by an independent commissioner or panel of independent commissioners and any decision is potentially going to result in an appeal to the Environment Court. By allowing direct referral, we feel we will not only save our community costs but get to a resolution in a more timely fashion."

"The District Plan allows buildings on the Park Mega Centre site to be a minimum of 1000 square meters. This was a fundamental part of the development proceeding. This position will be vigorously defended by Council in the Environment Court".

Council has 20 working days from the close of submissions to present their report to the court. This report, which will include public submissions, will also be presented to Charter Hall and the submitters.

A date for the hearing will be determined once the report has been received by the Environment Court.

ENDS

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