Gay retreat asks campsite consent

The owners of a Golden Bay gay retreat - which according to its website runs an all male "Naked Week" and a "Bear Week" for men with hairy chests and their admirers - have applied for retrospective resource consent for their 12-year-old campground.

A Tasman District Council hearing on Monday was to consider Autumn Farm's application to operate its campground, which caters for 15 people throughout the year and up to 50 people at its five organised events between December and February.

The 4.2ha Central Takaka Rd establishment has run the campground for 12 years, and the owners are also applying for consent to discharge treated wastewater to land.

Golden Bay consents planner Laurie Davidson said in a report the application was originally received in 2005, but had been put on hold until late last year due to a lack of information.

Mr Davidson said eight submissions were received on the application, and six of those submissions were in support from a range of people who were familiar with the farm and considered it a worthwhile asset to the community.

The Nelson Marlborough District Health Board raised concerns over the efficiency of composting toilets at the site. A neighbouring property owner also raised objections to material that smelled being deposited near their boundary.

Mr Davidson said he believed consent could be granted, but the use of the farm by 50 campers would require an extra toilet and it might be appropriate to require that to be a normal flush toilet connected to a properly designed wastewater system.

The district council's natural resources consents coordinator, Michael Durant, said he believed consent could be granted, with conditions, if the applicants went ahead with the construction of a wastewater treatment and disposal system for which they had provided details.