Residents fear effect of tourist dollar

By Stacey Bodger

TAUPO - The Taupo District Council is disregarding ratepayers' wishes in order to chase the tourist dollar, say residents of a peaceful valley.

The council's Taupo-Kaingaroa committee has amended the draft management plan for the Spa Thermal Park and Riverbank Recreation Reserve and designated it an adventure tourism area.

Taupo Bungy will have the right to extend its existing operation by building a giant swing, flying fox, two buildings, a cafe and extended parking on the reserve, by Spa Rd.

Committee chairwoman Dorothy Westerman used her casting vote to award the proposal controlled activity status.

That means the council cannot stop development and the public may make submissions only on the conditions the council places on expansion, instead of opposing it.

The residents of Peach Grove, a riverside residential valley, feel they are being bulldozed by the decision and other developments downstream.

Auckland company CP Group plans to build 18 two-storey chalets and a conference facility on Cherry Island in the Waikato River adjacent to the valley. It bought the island, which holds a restaurant and animal sanctuary, from a Taupo couple and is applying for resource consent.

Glenda Gentil, a spokeswoman for the Peach Grove residents, said they were watching their peaceful neighbourhood deteriorate.

Residents had expressed concerns at a public meeting in February but felt they had been ignored.

They were also worried the Cherry Island development would contaminate the river if the area's sewerage system did not cope.

"We agree the tourist dollar is important for the local economy, but we want to see the environment of the river valley paramount and to live peacefully," said Mrs Gentil.

Mrs Westerman said the committee had carefully considered the concerns, but the extension would be upstream, away from Peach Grove.

"I feel for them because it is a lovely part of Taupo, but we also want to encourage more exciting activities and, after all, the facility already exists."

Environmental Management Services consultant Mark Chrisp, in a letter to residents about the Cherry Island development, said the existing buildings were already connected to the council's sewerage and water supply systems.