Council consultation queried as changes put popular Twizel disc golf course at risk

admin 0 Comments November 24, 2022

, 2022-11-23 20:48:00,

Proposed changes to zoning rules in the Mackenzie District have upset some residents, with disc golfers particularly riled about the potential loss of a top tier competition grade course.

As part of the second stage of its district plan review, Mackenzie District Council is altering the Spatial Plans Implementation & Light sections, including a proposal to rezone areas to become “commercial visitor accommodation precincts” in Takapō/Tekapo, Twizel and Fairlie.

Information on the council’s website describes the designation as applying “to residential areas in Fairlie, Takapō/Tekapo, and Twizel that given their location have been identified as being suitable for higher density commercial visitor accommodation, such as hotels and motels.”

But the chairman of the Twizel’s Residents and Ratepayers Association, Tony Weekes, said the perceived lack of consultation with the community felt symbolic of broader issues.

“The feeling in Twizel from people I talk to is we’re getting a raw deal. We’re the biggest rate payer base in the region, but all of the emphasis seems to be on Fairlie and Tekapo.”

Weekes did receive an invitation to a workshop council held on the plan changes, which he understood had been extended to selected people, but in the past there had been opportunities for broader consultation via drop in sessions, he said.

“So some people are annoyed at the process and feel the council haven’t really discharged their obligations in terms of consulting.”

He said it was also hard to understand why public notification of the submission period was placed in a Timaru paper and not the local Twizel newsletter.

Weekes said communication with the council had been “a consistent issue since The Ratepayers Association was formed, we’ve had to sort of drag information out of them.”