A Letts Gully resident has disputed council costs relating to an unfinished tyre wall at her Alexandra property.

An independent hearings panel heard the case of Adrienne Lamb yesterday after she objected to a $3214 invoice from the Central Otago District Council for processing multiple resource consents connected to her property.

The panel was chaired by Neil Gillespie with commissioners Ian Cooney and Tracy Paterson.

Team leader – planning, Tanya Copeland, presented evidence outlining the council’s attempts to reach an agreement with Adrienne to construct a corrugated screening fence around the site.

When the fence was not completed, leaving an exposed tyre wall, the property was found to be in breach of District Plan consent conditions, including rural colour palette provisions.

Tanya said Adrienne declined to remove the tyre wall as an alternative solution, resulting in continued non-compliance between 2016 and 2025.

She noted that council had not continued to charge monitoring costs “as an act of good faith.”

Adrienne was first granted land use consent in 2016 for residential activity, travellers’ accommodation, and temporary tyre storage at the site.

That consent required 32 conditions, including a tyre wall around the property boundary to screen proposed activities.

A further consent in 2021 allowed the tyre wall, on the condition it be plaster-rendered within two years.

When the rendering was not completed, Adrienne applied for another consent to remove that requirement. The application was publicly notified in April 2023 but later withdrawn in May this year.

Tanya told the panel that interim invoicing for active resource consents has since been introduced to reduce outstanding payments.

Adrienne’s formal objection, lodged in September, argued the council had incorrectly required her to lodge the variation application to address compliance issues.

She said the consent process was not necessary, citing an earlier agreement to screen the tyres with a corrugated fence — a structure she believed was already permitted under the District Plan.

The hearings panel will release its decision within 15 working days.

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