Chalet owner says everybody will lose

Nicola Stables says her Te Kouma chalet, which can sleep up to 10 people, is usually booked out between mid-December and the end of January.

Nicola Stables says a move that would require holiday homeowners like herself to obtain a resource consent to rent their properties out to six or more people could result in visitors going elsewhere for their holidays.

Ms Stables says her Te Kouma chalet, which can sleep up to 10 people, is usually booked out between mid-December and the end of January.

The chalet, about 5km south of Coromandel, has two bedrooms and a toilet upstairs, a bedroom downstairs, an open plan kitchen, dining and living area and a deck complete with barbecue.

It's a five-minute walk to a nearby beach and a two-minute drive to a boat ramp.

Ms Stables, who lives in Huntly and bought the property as an investment with her husband in 2006, said that outside the busy periods of the year, bookings were sporadic.

"The times we tend to get bookings is when an event is on, we kind of get the overflow from the motels."

Ms Stables said she was perplexed by the Thames Coromandel District Council draft district plan, which recommends that visitor accommodation, such as hers, that caters for more than six paying guests obtain resource consent.

"I can understand where the motel people are coming from and they want to protect their business but the times when our properties are used is when they're at full occupancy anyway so I don't really see how it's going to be of benefit to anyone.

"It's possibly going to restrict visitor numbers to the area which is no good for anyone in the area. People would have to look at alternatives other than the Coromandel, which I assume isn't the intention, but it seems a little short- sighted."