Shania gets the nod
2005-06-30 07:15
Wellington - Canadian-born country music star Shania Twain has won permission to build a mansion and other buildings on her New Zealand sheep farm despite complaints that the complex would not blend in with the landscape, an official said on Wednesday.
Queenstown Lakes District Council approved the development — including a large house with attached garage, two guest cottages and ancillary structures — on their alpine ranch, Motatapu Station, on South Island, planning commissioner Trevor Shiels said in a report on Wednesday.
Twain and her husband Robert "Mutt" Lange applied for permission to build the development last year but met with staunch opposition from locals who said the diamond-shaped complex would be visible for miles.
In its objections to the plans, the Upper Clutha Environmental Society said people should be stopped from "slamming mansions onto leasehold land".
Everyone treated equally
"It doesn't matter that it's Shania Twain," said society president Julian Hayward last year. "We get a lot of people trying to put buildings in inappropriate locations and we object to all of them."
The couple attempted to overcome the objections by moving the buildings and lowering the height and number of chimneys.
The local council approved the development, subject to 17 conditions, Shiels said.
Among the conditions, Twain must immediately replace any dying plant or tree, provide a water supply for fire fighting and agree to plant the same mountain grasses as those growing on surrounding land so that the complex blends in with the landscape.
Still awaiting a reply
There was no word on whether Twain and Lange would agree to the conditions and opponents of the plan.
In his decision Shiels said the building was well designed and suitable for the site.
Lake Wanaka tourism chief executive John Hallum said he was pleased the application had been approved.
"They are nice people and I am sure they will make good citizens. Good luck to them," he said.
- AP