Cape lodge `would diminish cape's spirit'

Chris Gardner
The operator of Gannet Beach Adventures says he has nothing to gain financially in objecting to American billionaire Julian Robertson's plans to build luxury accommodation near the end of Cape Kidnappers.
In a submission to the Environment Court yesterday Rod Heaps, whose family has links to the area going back more than a century, said his business would not be affected by the proposed lodge in any monetary way.
Mr Heaps, who on Saturday became one of the Hastings District Council's newest members by ousting Mary Hannan from the district's Clive ward, is one of three people appealing against the council's decision to allow the 24-unit lodge development within an Outstanding Natural Feature at Black Reef Point.
On Sunday, Mrs Hannan described Mr Heaps as "nothing but a man for himself".
Mr Heaps, who is treasurer of the 46-strong Cape Kidnappers Protection Society which he helped found, admitted he did not bring any special technical expertise to the case but said he was a person "deeply committed to preserving for future generations the special natural character and integrity of the cape as an outstanding natural landscape".
"My concern, and the concern of those that I represent, is with the effect that the proposed hotel would have on the cape, on the landscape and on the experience of that landscape for the average person who visits the gannet reserves.
"Our fear is that the hotel will diminish the very spirit of the cape. It will make the experience of what is now a remote and natural and isolated place into something much less."
Mr Heaps said he did not object to Mr Robertson's lodge concept - just to its proposed location.
"The Cape Kidnappers Protection Society and I would have no problem with the proposal if it were more sensitively and respectfully sited. But the applicant, with more than 2000ha of land to choose from, has chosen to site it right here in the outstanding natural landscape area and within clear view of the public reserve.
"Nor do we have a problem with Mr Robertson himself. He seems like an OK guy. I have spoken with him a few times, both directly and by phone."
In delivering 64 letters of objection, Mr Heaps said the society wished Mr Robertson "all the very best" but could not accept what he was proposing.
Counsel for the Hastings District Council, Mark von Dadelszen, questioned Mr Heaps on some of the letters, from all over the world, asking him how people had come to describe the development as "a massive hotel complex", but Mr Heaps had no definitive answer.
Mr von Dadelszen asked Mr Heaps whether the description of "hotel", which he had used in his own submission, had more negative connotations than the word "lodge", which had been used by the developer.
"I could not answer that," Mr Heaps said.
Mr von Dadelszen asked: "If you described it as 'an exciting hideaway retreat', would that not receive a more positive reaction?"
Mr Heaps said not all the people who had written in with objections had spoken to him.
Under cross-examination from Derek Nolan, counsel for Mr Robertson, Mr Heaps confirmed that the contact details for the Cape Kidnappers Protection Society were the same as his tractor-tour business.
Hawke's Bay historian and protection society member Patrick Parsons presented his objections, also handing in details of Captain Cooke's experience in the area in 1769 revealing how the cape had got its name.
Mr von Dadelszen suggested to Mr Parsons that he was not a "disinterested observer" since he had been a submitter at the council hearing nearly a year ago.
The Art Deco Trust's executive director Robert MacGregor also appeared in court to object to the development, on the grounds that the cape was too iconic to develop. He was forced to withdraw a submission that claimed the subterranean sunset room to be excavated into the cliff as part of the development would be seen from Napier. He said he once believed that was the case but no longer did.
Asked about the economic benefits of the development, which the developer claims will be in excess of $87 million in its first 12 years, Mr MacGregor said: "I believe that they are not as great as has been commented by some people." Judge Craig Thompson, who is presiding over the case with commissioners Heather McConachy and Russell Howie, agreed that the cape was iconic.
"Nobody argues with that," Judge Thompson said.
The judge and commissioners are expected to visit the proposed lodge site on Friday.