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MAJOR DEVELOPMENT FOR GIBBSTON VALLEY NEAR QUEENSTOWN

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August, 2020

A massive development at Gibbston more than a decade in the making is
gathering steam.

As part of the Queenstown Lakes District Council district plan review,
Gibbston Valley Station Ltd succeeded in establishing the Gibbston
Valley Resort Zone, which covers 330ha on either side of State Highway
6.
The zone is bounded on the northern side of the road by AJ Hackett
Bungy Kawarau and Peregrine Wines and on the southern side from
Gibbston Valleys vineyard to Resta Rd.
The original resource consent for Gibbston Valley Stations resort,
granted in June 2009 to lapse in June 2024 enabled a "Vintners
Village" with 13 buildings, a total of 106 visitor accommodation units in
various parts of the site, staff accommodation, a spa complex with six
buildings, and a luxury lodge near the winery, all on the southern side of
the highway.
A daycare facility was also planned and a key part of the development
was worker accommodation. Approval had been given for 90 beds for
short and long-term stays.
On the northern side, consent was received for an 18-hole golf course,
30 more visitor accommodation units, a community building and 10
more buildings containing 13 residential units.
A further consent, granted in 2018, enabled a visitor accommodation
facility with 33 cottages and associated facilities, and an underpass.
That consent has already been activated and the first stage, the
$25million Gibbston Valley Lodge & Spa, opened in December.
Gibbston Valley Station chief executive Greg Hunt said plans within the
zone were still largely consistent with the original proposal. However,
the consent for development on the northern side of the highway,
including part of the golf course, fell outside the newly established
resort zone.
It had now reapplied for consent for a nine-hole golf course, in a
different location, earthworks and 14 building platforms 13
residential and one associated with a community facility containing a
swimming pool and lounge for residents on 33ha which abuts the
resort zone, "to bring it in line with the resort".
The community facility would be accessed via the proposed underpass.
"If we do a golf course and thats still an if that would be in both
areas [the resort and Gibbston character zones]," Mr Hunt said.
At present, the Greg Turner-designed course is pegged on the northern
side of the highway. Part of it had been used for parking during the
annual Gibbston Valley concert.
"I used to be at Millbrook many years ago and what we did there was
park over the golf course just not on the greens.
"This is more of a country-style course still a quality golf course, but
its not intended to hold a PGA Championship on it."
The concert space would be retained and used for that event, wine and
food festivals, community and sports events.
While detailed plans were still being finalised, Mr Hunt said promotion
of the resort would begin in "two or three months".
The earliest construction would start would be 2022, he said.

Source: Otago Daily Times