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The row over the bid by TV frontman Marc Ellis and others to set up a cafe at Piha is heading to the Environment Court.
Last month commissioners for the Waitakere City Council and Auckland Regional Council approved resource consents for the cafe looking on to the west coast beach after hearing views of technical experts and hundreds of public submissions.
Cafe opponent Protect Piha Heritage was disappointed at the decision, saying it would encourage urbanisation.
Group spokesman Sandra Coney confirmed that an appeal had been made to the Environment Court to have consents cancelled.
But yesterday the applicant company, Preserve Piha, revealed that it too was appealing against several conditions imposed by the commissioners to seek clarification.
Andrew Higgs, one of the shareholders, said the consent conditions had anomalies, such as leaving out the cooking of minor meals, like scrambled eggs.
He said the parties would have mediation meetings to see whether areas of disagreement could be resolved "in the least costly way for everybody". The plan was to have the 35-seat cafe open by Christmas.
The city council's legal services team will co-ordinate the appeal.
Protect Piha Heritage is appealing against the entire consent. But if the Environment Court allows the cafe subject to conditions, then the group wants a condition to show how the applicant can stay within noise limits for the site.
Other conditions will seek to:
* Confine hours of operation to 10am to 5pm Mondays to Saturdays, excluding public holidays.
* Allow seating for only 35 people inside and none outside.
* Ban alcohol, takeaways, odour and outside cooking.
* Impose "realistic" wastewater conditions and monitoring.
At the hearing, the land use application drew 108 submissions in support and 92 in opposition.
The wastewater discharge application had 73 submissions in support and 46 against.
Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey said last night: "It's going to be five years, at least, before they get an answer.
"It will be now an endless process ... You have serious campaigners in this."
