“Consent remains no more than a possibility, not a probability, let alone a certainty.”
This is the standout sentence in the latest interim ruling from the Environment Court in the saga of non-consented development and business activity at Cable Bay Vineyards that dates back to 2012.
The 25-page decision of Judge LJ Newhook and Environment Commissioners IM Buchanan and JA Hodges was released late last month.
It signals that the director and ultimate shareholder of the vineyard’s two companies, Loukas Petrou, still has big hurdles to clear in his bid to get retrospective approvals to operate the enlarged Verandah restaurant, have limited outdoor dining near the restaurant and use a larger adjoining lawn area for occasional wedding ceremonies.
Cable Bay Wines Limited and Motukaha Investments Limited, appealed to the court early last year after Auckland Council’s independent hearing commissioners refused to grant validating consents under the Resource Management Act to the use of the restaurant beyond the terms of a more limited 2011 consent and also to more wide ranging use of the adjoining lawn area than the Environment Court is willing to allow.
The court’s first interim decision released last November signalled that approval of the enlarged Verandah’s indoor operation and restricted use of the adjoining outdoor area might be given if conditions, still to be developed then, could be satisfied.
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