Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) and US billionaire Peter Thiel’s company Second Star Ltd have each been ordered by the Environment Court to pay $44,199 over a recent appeal.

Together they must pay Longview Environment Trust (LET) close to $90,000 following the appeal on Thiel’s proposal for a luxury lodge near Wānaka, Environment Court Judge Prudence Steven said in a decision released this week.

In June the Environment Court denied Thiel’s appeal to overturn the QLDC consenting panel decision which had turned down his lodge proposal.

However, Judge Steven described QLDC’s conduct as “troubling” at the time, and some of those same issues contributed to this week’s decision to award costs to LET.

During the appeal QLDC elected not to support the panel’s decision, for reasons the judge considered “untenable”. 

“Council failed to perform its duties to the public, including LET, by demonstrating a lack of neutrality on what was an unmeritorious appeal,” the judge said this week.

“In this instance the council adopted a position that failed to enforce its own District Plan.”

LET, owned by neighbouring property owner John May, had opposed the appeal, and it argued, among other things, that it was excluded from pre-mediation discussions and that Second Star Ltd and QLDC “in essence ran a joint argument”.

Its “characterisation of the appellant and council working together as a pressure tactic seems valid, even if it did not involve a breach of duty on the council’s part…” the judge said.

In a statement released today QLDC said it had adopted “pragmatic approach to a legal case” with “two well-resourced neighbours, and other parties…”.

The judge said QLDC had an obligation to ensure the provisions of the PDP are consistently and properly applied and enforced regardless of its position on appeal.

“While the court’s usual practice is not to make an order against a public body whose decision is the subject of the appeal, a council is not immune to a costs’ award if it has failed to perform its duties properly or has acted unreasonably.”

The judge said LET should be compensated for the expense it incurred to ensure the District Plan’s provisions were properly adhered to.

She directed Second Star Ltd and QLDC to each pay $44,199.00, “together representing an elevated costs award of 60 percent of the costs LET has incurred since 30 June 2023”.

LET trustee John May said the judge’s decision was “vindication” of the trust’s concerns about council’s actions during the appeal and “a timely reminder of the council’s duty to the public”.

“This case exposes the inappropriateness of the council doing backroom deals with influential developers leaving other parties to do the council’s job,” he said.

QLDC said it “has noted the court’s view that it should have defended its original decision and its District Plan more strongly”.

PHOTO: Wānaka App