Southland wintering barn given the go ahead!

14 February 2023

The consent application process can often be a tricky one with a lot of paperwork, especially when you’ve got something that’s a little out of the ordinary. It can require detailed reports, engaging of third-parties to provide local authorities with adequate evidence of what you are wanting to achieve, this doesn’t have to be a daunting process if you are prepared to work through the process and are up for the challenge, it may just pay off and it has for one of our clients recently.

Our Otago and Southland based Planning and Environmental teams worked with the Scott Brothers – Aaron and Mark to achieve their goal of gaining a land use consent to establish new wintering barns for their organic farm near Te Anau, Southland. Aaron and Mark were looking for a solution to address some of the adverse effects of having cows on their property during the winter months.

The initial application proposal was met with some opposition during the public consultation phase, our team worked through the feedback from this consultation with Aaron and Mark in conjunction with various regulatory bodies such as Southland District Council, iwi, the Department of Conservation and neighbours to find a resolution that could work for everyone. As a result of this consultation, the decision was made to reduce the scale of the proposal from four smaller barns to two larger barns. Although the scale of the barns changed from the initial proposal, Aaron and Mark accepted the recommendations and wanted to do the right thing by the environment.

Brodie Costello (Planner) and Walt Denley (Planning Team Leader) assisted Aaron and Mark in preparing the application and presenting a well-rounded, thorough proposal to the Council hearing outlining the changes they had made to their proposal and the reduced environmental impacts from housing cows in the barns. This resulted in the granting of their consent at the end of January 2023.

We were proud to be able to work with Aaron and Mark Scott to help bring their vision to life, and we look forward to seeing their wintering barns up and running in the near future. Our experienced team of planners have a reputation for thinking outside the box and working collaboratively with our clients to provide solutions that are practical, fit for purpose with the environment at the forefront.