Otatara subdivision plan meets resistance from Invercargill Airport

Friday, 9 October 2020

The Auckland to Invercargill jet flies over the area of a proposed subdivision at Otatara, beside the Invercargill Golf Club. The club’s president, John Hughes is having a putt on the 12th green.

A developer who wants to build a 31-lot subdivision at Otatara, near Invercargill, has met resistance from the Invercargill Airport company.

DLC Properties Limited lodged a resource consent application with the Invercargill City Council in May to build a subdivision at 60 Otatara Rd, on land directly north of the Invercargill Golf Club’s 13th fairway.

The subdivision proposes to have 31 lots of between one hectare and 1.27 hectares in size.

The Invercargill Golf Club has agreed to sell DLC Properties up to one hectare of its unused land if the development proceeds.

Invercargill Airport general manager Nigel Finnerty says its primary concern is that the proposed subdivision at Otatara is located within the airport’s noise boundary. [File photo]

However, it remains unclear if the subdivision will proceed, given resistance from the nearby airport.

Airport general manager Nigel Finnerty said its primary concern was that the proposed subdivision was located within the airport’s noise boundary which experienced the highest levels of aircraft noise around the airport.

“This subdivision would establish 31 sections very close to the airport in an area of high aircraft noise,” he said.

Finnerty said the district plan provided guidance and processes to manage what could be built near the airport and the airport company assessed all applications for potential impacts on its operations.

DLC Properties director Dan Chisnall, the man behind the proposed subdivision, said the Invercargill Airport company was not in support of the application.

The airport company wanted to address issues including aircraft noise levels for any houses that would be built on the subdivision, bird strike on aeroplanes, dust in driveways and height of trees, Chisnall said.

He believed all the issues could be addressed, including the noise issues, saying he had offered to ensure houses built in the subdivision would require sound proofing from aircraft noise.

His company’s consent application for the subdivision says, in order to mitigate potential effects on airport operations, it is promoted a “no complaints covenant” be registered, stating the applicant or any successive owners will not oppose any activity conducted as part of the airport operations.

Chisnall said he was in consultation with the council, which was “good to deal with”, and was happy to work with the affected parties, including the airport.

“They have their position, and they are trying to protect their interests.”

Chisnall, who lives in Napier but has spent time in Southland, said there was a big demand for semi-rural subdivisions in Southland.

“There’s demand for lifestyle blocks … and especially right alongside a golf course.”

“You can view the resort type image of nice open soft boundaries on the edge of the course, you can drive your golf cart out onto the course … you can’t normally buy that sort of thing.”

Invercargill Golf Club president John Hughes said the club supported the subdivision being located beside its golf course.

“We see it as a really positive lifestyle choice that people want in Otatara.”

But he believed the airport objections may prevent the subdivision from going ahead.

He confirmed the club had agreed to sell a piece of its land - less than one hectare of unused ground - to the developer, but only if the subdivision application was approved.

“It’s an unused piece of our property that will blend the golf course into the subdivision … we are happy to work with the developer to make it as lifestyle friendly as it can be.”

He questioned why the airport company was objecting to the subdivision being built over the western flight approach to the city, saying the eastern approach saw planes fly over high density housing in the city and over Queens Park.

Invercargill City Council building and planning services manager Jonathan Shaw said the council was still waiting on further information in relation to the subdivision application, so no decision had been made on whether it needed to be notified.

“This means the council has not sought nor received any formal feedback in relation to the application – it remains in the hands of the applicant.”