KEY POINTS:
The owner of a luxury lodge in Rotorua is facing court action over his refusal to stop helicopter landings at the exclusive Kawaha Pt property.
Ron Main, owner of Peppers on the Point, faces an Environment Court hearing next week for allegedly failing to abide by repeated warnings
from the local council to stop the landings.
The Rotorua District Council said the court action was a last resort after years of issuing both formal and informal warnings to Mr Main, telling him that helicopter landings were prohibited at the lakeside property which falls in a residential zone.
Mr Main has owned the property - which has stunning views of Lake Rotorua out to Mokoia Island - for more than 35 years. The lodge opened in 2004 in a refurbished 1930s mansion, and recent guests include Prince Andrew.
Mr Main said there had been only a dozen helicopter flights in the time since the lodge opened, and the flights had stopped about four months ago.
"We had the Prince arrive here in Rotorua [in March]," he said.
"He flew helicopters in the [Falklands] War in South America and he wasn't allowed to bloody well fly in. That's how ridiculous it is."
Mr Main said the district plan was "antiquated" and had never been reviewed, and he questioned why helicopters should not land at the lodge.
"They're not crossing any private land. They're just flying in from the lake."
The flights had been done by two helicopter companies and Mr Main claimed the court action was the result of complaints by a neighbour, solicitor Doug Clemens.
Mr Main claimed his other neighbours at Kawaha Pt had no objection to the helicopter visits.
He said two of his neighbours had landed helicopters at their properties.
His lawyer, Murray McKechnie, confirmed that Mr Main had collected about 20 signatures on a letter of support that would be presented to the court.
Mr McKechnie said evidence against his client consisted of a joint affidavit signed by Mr Clemens and his wife supporting the council's application for an enforcement order.
"There is no other evidence about helicopters coming and going from this site."
Mr McKechnie planned to argue that the helicopter visits to Peppers were very infrequent, saying months could go by without a single landing.
"They are ancillary to the operation of this boutique tourist lodge, and nobody in the neighbourhood has any objection with one conspicuous exception."
Nor did the landings disturb the peace to any significant extent, he said.
"There are float planes flying over Kawaha Pt on a regular basis which make an awful lot more noise."
But the council said the district plan prohibited helicopters landing in all residential areas and Kawaha Pt was zoned residential.
Environmental services director Nigel Wharton said the dispute with Mr Main had been going on for several years and the court action was a last resort.
"We certainly don't take this sort of action lightly [but] we've got an activity that's prohibited by a district plan. Someone is carrying out an activity that is prohibited and so we're going to take action to stop that."
The council had made two or three informal approaches to Mr Main in letters and meetings before formal action was taken.
"There have been many requests, including an abatement notice, to cease operations.
"He has ignored that request," Mr Wharton said.
He was not aware of other property owners at Kawaha Pt operating helicopters, but said the council had received complaints from neighbours about the activity at Peppers, and enforcement officers had confirmed those complaints.
No consents had been issued for the landings and were unlikely to be if Mr Main applied.
"The district plan has said they are prohibited activities because of obviously noise impacts and interference with people in the residential zones," Mr Wharton said.
"That's been agreed through the public process when the district plan was first prepared some 10, 11 years ago."
Asked if a resolution to the dispute could depend on whether the majority of Mr Main's neighbours had no objections to the landings, Mr Wharton said: "I'm not going to speculate on what the views of others might be."
Mr Main and his wife Jamie also own Rydges Hotel in Rotorua, and rest-homes in Rotorua, Matamata and Te Puke.
In 2004, Mr Main complained publicly about "Scrooge-like" funding from the Government for rest-home providers.
The Environment Court hearing is scheduled for Monday and expected to take no more than a day.
Mr Clemens said he and his wife were not the only ones to complain.
"It's not an application by us, it's an application by the district council. We are just asking the council to enforce their bylaws."
Grand living
* Located at Kawaha Pt, next to Lake Rotorua, and 10 minutes drive from the central city.
* Has nine suites, most with views of the lake, in a refurbished 1930s mansion filled with antiques.
* Offers gourmet New Zealand food and wine, and activities including fly-fishing from a private beach.
* Rooms start at $450 a night for two people.
