Lindsay Niemann (left) and Julie Loranger joined forces with their neighbours and have collectively spent more than $1 million fighting Cable Bay Vineyards and Auckland Council. Photo / Dean Purcell
Lindsay Niemann (left) and Julie Loranger joined forces with their neighbours and have collectively spent more than $1 million fighting Cable Bay Vineyards and Auckland Council. Photo / Dean Purcell
The millionaire owner of one of the country's top vineyards is embroiled in a new stoush with Auckland Council involving a luxury Waiheke villa.
His companies have been slapped with enforcement orders, prosecuted over helicopter flights and the vineyard is back before the court for breaching noise limits.
A band of neighbours who are directly affected say they have spent more than $1 million fighting the operation through the courts and trying to hold Auckland Council to account.
But Petrou is now in a new dispute with council officials involving his nearby Cable Bay Villa - a luxury five-bedroom home with ocean views on Church Bay Rd which can be rented as visitor accommodation for thousands of dollars per night.
Petrou is a construction company director who owns another multimillion-dollar property on Waiheke's Queens Drive and another in Remuera's dress circle Arney Cres.
He bought his latest house, set in a sprawling olive grove, for about $4 million several years ago.
After refurbishing the property so it could be rented as luxury visitor accommodation, including the addition of a swimming pool, he advertised it online as an exclusive wedding venue.
Cable Bay Vineyards owner Loukas Petrou, with Caroline Petrou, at the Metro Top 50 Restaurants in Auckland in April 2013. Photo / Norrie Montgomery
But Petrou's plans came undone when it emerged he'd carried out unconsented building work and failed to get the necessary permits to hold weddings on the site.
An online listing says for $5999, wedding-goers could enjoy exclusive use of the sprawling villa "adorned with luxurious linen and furnishings", catered dining and their own dedicated wedding coordinator.
But the Herald can reveal Petrou was asked to desist by the council after it received complaints about his grand accommodation and wedding plans.
Cable Bay Vineyards has sparked at least 75 noise complaints in recent years to Auckland Council. Photo / File
Officials are now in compliance negotiations with Petrou who has been ordered to remove the luxury wedding listing from online.
Auckland Council regulatory compliance manager Steve Pearce said the property had been used as a wedding venue without consent.
"The owner has agreed to cease using it for this purpose while we work through possible solutions with him.
Council officers had also identified breaches of the Building Act relating to plumbing and the conversion of a shed into visitor accommodation.
The council was providing advice on how to comply with regulations as a "first course of action before resorting to other options".
Failure to rectify the Building Act breaches could result in a maximum fine of $200,000, while Resource Management Act breaches could result in a fine of up to $600,000 for a company or $300,000 for an individual, or up to 2 years' imprisonment.
