Invercargill City Council waits on Otatara subdivision information

Monday, 17 May 2021

Invercargill Airport manager Nigel Finnerty says his primary concern about a proposed subdivision at Otatara is that it would be located within the airport's noise boundary which experiences the highest levels of aircraft noise around the airport.

A developer’s application to build a subdivision at Otatara is on hold as the Invercargill City Council waits for more information.

However, the developer says the information should be submitted to the council within the next week.

Dan Chisnall, director of DLC Properties, has applied for resource consent to build a 31-lot subdivision on land beside the Invercargill Golf Club at Otatara which is under the flight path of the Invercargill Airport.

City council planning team leader Liz Devery said they were waiting on more information from the developer, including a traffic impact assessment, matters relating to the connection between the proposed subdivision and adjoining Otatara Scenic Reserve, and information on outstanding natural features, landscapes and drainage.

* Otatara subdivision plan meets resistance from Invercargill Airport

Devery also said the council had asked the developer to provide it with the airport company’s written approval, given it was an affected party.

If the developer was unable to get that written approval, the council would have to make a decision on notification matters, she said.

“At this stage the matter is one between the [developer] and Invercargill Airport Limited.”

If the airport company did give the developer approval to build the subdivision, the application would continue to be processed and the potential environment effects would need to be considered.

Chisnall said the airport company had declined to give its approval for the subdivision and he would not be seeking further approval before submitting his next lot of information to the council, which he hoped would be within the next week.

Airport manager Nigel Finnerty said he had not received any correspondence from the developer since at least January “so no updates from the airport on this”.

However, the airport company’s concerns had not changed.

The proposed subdivision would establish 31 sections very close to the airport in an area of high aircraft noise, Finnerty said.

“Invercargill Airport’s primary concern is that the subdivision is located within the airport's noise boundary which experiences the highest levels of aircraft noise around the airport.”

The Invercargill Golf Club, which has holes adjacent to the proposed subdivision land, has publicly put its support behind the development.