Resource consent conditions put wedding venue plans at risk

Monday, 13 July 2026

Kate Laurich-Major and James Major are frustrated by their resource consent decision that could make setting up a wedding venue impossible.

Four years ago, Kate Laurich-Major and James Major took a punt and bought into a macadamia farm with a dream of eventually opening a wedding venue, which could now be in jeopardy.

It’s been Kate’s long-time dream to open a wedding venue, and in a macadamia orchard seemed the perfect place, but a restrictive resource consent could put a stop to both the business and venue.

“I always wanted to do a wedding venue back home because I grew up on the Hauraki Plains and all my family live here as dairy farmers. I’ve always found it really fascinating that there was nothing here and wanted to change that.

Kate Laurich-Major says opening a wedding venue in the Hauraki Plains, where she grew up, has been a long-time dream. Pictured around the lake where the bride would walk if she sets up her venue.

“We’re not trying to get rich out of this. We’ve put our hearts and souls and blood and tears into this business for years … This decision now means that it may not be financially viable and we might have to sell everything,” Kate said.

Kate’s father bought Top Notch Macadamias in 2017, which included the business and 1400 trees over 30 acres. Kate and James then bought in and took over much of the management four years ago with plans to open a wedding venue, Mala Šuma, and an indoor event area, The Green Space.

Mala Šuma would sit in a “natural amphitheatre” next to the lake in their orchard and would have a clear marquee surrounded by trees at its centre with a barn for the band area.

Kate Laurich-Major and James Major have been granted a resource consent that limits them to only six weddings allowed to go to midnight a year.

In mid-2024, the couple lodged a resource consent with the Hauraki District Council asking to be granted consent to run 30 events a year across both event areas with the idea that they would take place in the summer. The consent was opposed by three of their neighbours.

In June, after months of back and forth with the council over acoustic reports and undergoing a hearing in March, the couple’s consent was granted, but with a catch, only six of the 30 events could run until midnight and only one of the six could be held a month.

Kate Laurich-Major and James Major have decided to appeal the decision to the Environment Court.

Kate felt the decision was unreasonable given the work they had proposed to do, including building an acoustically engineered barn to put the band and dancing area in. They had decided to appeal the decision to the Environment Court.

All of the macadamia nuts are harvested by hand on their orchard.

In a statement, the council confirmed that the applicant had “proposed to meet a noise limit that is lower than what is normally allowed for rural activities”. However, they added that the decision to only allow six events past 10pm was based on the “quiet rural setting, the high-amenity nature of the area, and the potential effects on nearby neighbours from late-night events”.

“It’s really difficult for us,” Kate said. “We can see if we can make it work, but honestly that would probably result in us getting it going and then selling … who would want to book a wedding venue that has to shut at 10pm?”

Kate Laurich-Major and James Major make a variety of macadamia products but say their brittle is by far the favourite.

The weddings were going to be the big ticket earner that would help pay off the extra costs to get the consent and build the barn, however, with only six allowed and the costs still the same, she didn’t think it would be financially viable and estimated their income was reduced by nearly 80%.

Kate Laurich-Major and James Major reckon they have one of the largest commercial macadamia facilities in the country.

James said that the events were a necessary way to diversify their income stream after years of the macadamia business operating at a loss or just breaking even. They felt that the restrictions did not align with a fair and reasonable application of the RMA and district plans in a way that encouraged responsible development.

“It’s a massive cost for us to use the land that we own in the way that we want to. We just want to hold a few events here, we’re not starting a meth lab,” James said.

Despite working on efficiency and growing their wholesale products, James said the business was a hands-on task and labour remained their biggest cost. They usually employed three full-time staff plus six seasonal pickers and two factory staffers to manually test every tree before harvest and pick by hand.

“Growing a luxury food in a cost of living crisis is pretty challenging, especially because you can grow in Australia for much cheaper,” James said.

He believed they had one of the largest commercial facilities in the country and they processed for about twenty other growers. They produced between 12 to 16 tonnes of nut and shell a year, and wholesaled to 131 retailers across the country.

Alongside the nuts, they produced oil, paste, butter and numerous sweet treats, but their best seller was the brittle, which they sold about 100,000 pieces of annually.

Buying the farm was a punt for Kate’s dad, Gavin, a dairy farmer, but was even more so for Kate and James. Kate’s background was in event management and she continued to work three days a week as an events manager for Wintec, while James had worked as an electrician and previously owned a car dealership.

“It’s been really cool to come home for me, you know, my brothers and Dad live just down the road and being back in the country is really cool … It’s not without its challenges, but overall it’s been a really positive move for us,” Kate said.