Friends of Conical Hill opposed the consent in the Environment Court on grounds including the presence of rare, endangered and at-risk herpetofauna, or lizards, in the area.
They are also concerned about native falcons on Conical Hill, and other factors including a loss of heritage value and peace and privacy for nearby residents.
Each of the parties in the case – the Friends, the council and the pools operator – has filed expert evidence about four species of native lizards in the area.
They are the rough gecko, the northern Southern Alps gecko, the pygmy gecko and the South Marlborough grass skink.
The rough gecko is endangered and the other three are classified as “at risk – declining”.
Judge Jane Borthwick said although the Conical Hill Reserve was a known lizard habitat, other locations mentioned in the evidence “are not in the public domain or widely known”.
The council had told her there was a risk of people finding out the lizards’ locations and poaching them.
Also, a private landowner in the area “does not want their property to be a target for those with criminal intent”.
Rare and exotic reptiles are in high demand from collectors, who keep the long-lived lizards as pets, and a New Zealand species can fetch thousands of dollars on the international market.
In 2012, a German poacher was jailed for four months for trying to smuggle four geckos out of the country.
Judge Borthwickaccepted that the need to protect the location of significant habitats for threatened and at-risk species outweighed the need for an open hearing.
She ruled that parts of the court hearings would be closed to the public, and that the evidence about the lizards would be accessible only to the court and the parties.
The court transcript would be marked “confidential” and the court file could not be searched, inspected or copied without the court’s permission, she ruled.
“The protection of areas of significant habitats of indigenous fauna is a matter of national importance that needs to be recognised and provided for,” Judge Borthwick said.