Last week social (anti-social) media was abuzz with people in uproar about the recommendation of a local council planning officer to reject the resource consent proposal by the Countdown supermarket developer. 

I can understand people’s confusion at the newspaper article which caused the uproar - people thought that rejection might be it, done and dusted, no Countdown - but the fact is it is only one step in a long process. 

The planning officer has only recommended the proposal put forward be rejected because it does not fit the criteria needed to pass. 

When anyone in the district builds a house, or a developer builds a housing estate, they all must comply with the rules set by the council. 

The planning officer is pretty much saying the proposed plan is not good enough, and the developer needs to go back to the drawing board. 

The supermarket development is not rejected, they just need to come up with a better plan. 

Central Otago District mayor Tim Cadogan put it eloquently,

“A lot of that talk fails to understand the legal process that the recommendation was made within,” Mayor Tim said. 

“That’s not surprising, because the law concerned (the Resource Management Act) is as complex as a Russian novel.

“In the hopes of giving people an understanding and also a realisation that this is just one step in a long process; I’m going to have a crack at explaining how the process works.”

Central Otago District mayor Tim Cadogan weighted in on the Countdown supermarket development, which caused an uproar on social media. Photo The Central App. 

“The Plan basically says (in this context) what you can build where without having to ask permission by going through the resource consent process. This includes zones that promote what can go where.

“So, if you want to build a house in a Residential Resource zone, generally you can go ahead and do it (unless you want to break the rules such as proximity to a boundary for example).

“But if you want to build a commercial building in a residential zone, you will have to generally go through the resource consent process to do so.” 

Mayor Tim explained at the hearing, the Commissioner will hear from a lot of experts and non-experts and will make a decision based on what they have heard, applying the law and the District Plan.

“Along the way, what is being asked for by the applicant may be changed and/or the decision may say something like “yes, but only if you do X, Y and Z”.

From there, the matter could go to the Environment Court on Appeal, he explained.

“So really we are a very long way from there being a final answer in this matter. I hope that helps explain the process to you.”

It astounded me the social media thread had such harsh and vitriolic comments, though that is almost exactly all that social media is.

The planning officer has worked with the town’s best interests in mind. He has asked the questions of will this supermarket impact traffic flow at a key point in the main road into Alexandra, and near intersections. 

He has also looked at the neighbours - residential houses and a hotel. 

The site for the proposed Countdown supermarket on Centennial Ave. Photo courtesy Google Maps. 

Again, the supermarket has not been rejected for good, just their plan has been recommended for rejection and they need to come up with a better plan. Simple. 

While people slammed this recommendation as “holding the town back” and “stifling the town’s growth”, I also wondered if these same people are the ones who argue we don’t want more people or houses in the area. 

I have written a number of opinion pieces on the town’s growth and development and almost all emails received have been along the lines of “we don’t want more people here, we don’t want to be Queenstown.” 

But, they want another supermarket and another 60-80 associated jobs. 

Where are you going to house those employees? You’re going to need houses because there already is a housing shortage in the area. 

When it comes to jobs, the area already has more jobs available than people available to fill them. 

Other comments were along the lines of “we need another supermarket for competition”.

By their logic, what if a Pack’n’Save wants to develop in a few months. Approve them? 

What if CostCo wants to move in the month after that. Approve them too, willy-nilly? 

Why not, all in the name of progress? Oh, but we don’t want to be Queenstown, remember? 

It appeared to me the people commenting on social media didn’t actually know the process, nor the system of local government itself. 

The submission period for feedback from the public ended sometime ago, which was their chance to be heard. 

If people are truly passionate about this subject then they wouldn’t be yelling at each other on social media, which does absolutely nothing. 

If I was a betting man, I’d bet the supermarket will eventually be built, they just have to come up with a better plan. 

Then you can buy your tins of baked beans from two stores, but I’ll also bet you the prices probably won’t change.

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