A Queenstown resident has been sentenced at the Queenstown District Council after pleading guilty to one charge under the Resource Management Act 1991 and one under the Building Act 2004.

The charges related to two shipping containers on a property at Arthurs Point that were converted for residential use including the addition of kitchen facilities and used for visitor accommodation. The owners had not obtained the required resource consent to locate the containers on the property or building consent for the building work associated with converting them for residential use, despite earlier advice to do so.

QLDC Regulatory Manager Anthony Hall welcomed the sentencing news, highlighting that the Council takes these matters very seriously and is currently pursuing enforcement action on a number of instances of unlawful building work in the district.

“On this occasion, the defendant acted without regard to Council rules and associated legislation, resulting in the potential for significant safety issues,” he said.

“It’s important to remind anyone out there looking to undertake building works to make sure they have all the necessary consents in place before starting any project,” Mr Hall said.

QLDC notes that since the charges were laid, the defendant has obtained a resource consent for the location of the shipping containers, and is working towards resolving the matters of compliance with the Building Act 2004.

The Defendant was fined a total of $12,000 allocated between each of the two offences.

Land use rules and consent information for building work can be found on the Council website www.qldc.govt.nz/planning

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