Spa plan gives locals butterflies

Two Northland councils have attracted more than 600 submissions on an American company's proposal to develop a spa resort on a 41ha site near Whangaroa in the Far North.

Cerulean Properties, a California-based private company, wants to build a resort for up to 229 guests, mainly visiting foreigners, at secluded Butterfly Bay - an internationally recognised monarch butterfly sanctuary.

According to its resource consent application, Cerulean's proposed development, known as Project BlueSpa, would result in the likely removal of more than 8ha of bush - mainly kanuka and manuka - during clearance work for roads, tracks, parking areas and buildings.

It also wants to build a desalination plant that would discharge more than 200cu m a day of water into the sea via a pipeline.

The resort would include 74 guest chalets, a lodge, restaurant, spa and water therapy facilities, a gymnasium, tennis courts and a bar.

The company has filed resource consent (land use) and coastal permit applications with the Far North District Council and the Northland Regional Council respectively.

A district council spokeswoman said four or five of 439 submissions on the project supported it. The regional council said it had received a total of about 170 submissions.

The two councils will conduct a joint hearing into Cerulean's consent applications. A date and venue is expected to be known by the end of this month.