An 11-lot subdivision on the lower elevation of the Pisa Mountain Range above Queensberry has gone out for public notification.

The 710ha site on Fay Road is owned by a company called Enfield and seeks to subdivide 107ha of the land into nine building platforms for residential use.

That would involve earthworks and vegetation clearance of the site, currently used for sheep farming, and has been notified by the Central Otago District Council.

A report from planners identified vegetation at the site consisting mainly of regenerating kānuka-dominant scrub and shrubland, with smaller areas of grassland, wetland, herbfield and rock cliffs.

 The site contained a portion of Outstanding Natural Landscape (ONL) zoning overlay, which extended from the subject site south to Cromwell, encompassing the eastern aspect of the Pisa Mountain Range.

The planned subdivision would also affect lizard habitat areas (through clearance of rank grass and other dense ground cover vegetation, removal of loose rocks) in order to prepare the site for construction. 

A Lizard Management Plan (LMP) and a Wildlife Act Authority (WAA) from the Department of Conservation was required for the project to address adverse effects on lizards.

Land Use consent was required under the Central Otago District Plan for residential building platforms (restricted discretionary activity), a breach of excavation standards for within the ONL as a discretionary activity, and for clearing native vegetation exceeding 0.5ha.

Submissions on the application closed at 4.00pm on Thursday April 3, 2025.