A suspended bunker among rocky outcrops on the Tarras-Cromwell highway, complete with five bedrooms, has been publicly notified by Central Otago District Council.

JKH Holdings has applied for consent to construct the eight metre deep, 890sqm bunker, including a gym and media room, and finished with a ‘green roof’ camouflaged by surrounding vegetation.

Joseph Hamlin of Collaroy, Australia, is listed as the sole director and shareholder of the company.

The original consent for a building platform of 1,600sqm on a lower section of the 335.72ha site, in an Outstanding Natural Landscape (ONL) zone, has been relinquished by the owners.

Conditions of the original consent didn’t allow for any schist outcrops to be disturbed, while the current application required that two would be moved for construction.

Situated below the Dunstan Range near Devils Creek, the dwelling was proposed to have an overall height of 3.85m.

The landscape assessment report for the applicant outlined how the bunker would be cut into the hillside to integrate with three rock outcrops on each of its corners.

The roofline’s western and southern corners would both terminate into existing rock outcrops, with the southern corner being flush with existing ground level. The northern facade and eastern corner would cantilever out over a schist foundation podium by approximately 2.5m.

The planner’s report said overall the proposed activity was likely to have adverse effects on the wider environment that were more than minor therefore public notification was required.

The applicant proposed extensive ecological enhancement of the site in the form of a 4.8ha predator proof sanctuary, and the provision of 14,000 indigenous plants at various locations across the property. 

Submissions close on September 25 with a hearing to follow.

IMAGE: Supplied