Tauranga City Aquatics Limited is considering appealing the decision made by an independent commissioner to cease the project to develop the Mount hot pools.

This issue was discussed in confidential at a workshop meeting between Tauranga City Council and its pools operation company, Tauranga City Aquatics Ltd, on Thursday.

Councillor David Stewart says an appeal may be lodged just to keep the issue in the system.

The applicant, TCAL, has 15 working days in which to lodge an appeal against the independent commissioner's decision to stop the proposed $7.5 million expansion plan.

The decision was announced on SunLive on March 22, 14 working days ago.

TCAL board member and city councillor David Stewart says even if an appeal is lodged, it may be just to keep the door open.

'It may well be that we will lodge an appeal just to have a holding pattern if you like, while we work through some of he issues, see if its worthwhile pursuing it further,” says David.

'It's like any application you go through – sometimes you don't get consent the first time around, so you make a few adjustments, and the chances are that you can.

'It's just a matter of determining: is it worthwhile pursuing it and what would need to be done in order to be successful.

'Often these things involve mediation between the parties. There are points that the decision has picked up on, the parties get can together and try and work it out, see if there is some common ground to resolve it. It's just part of the process.”

In the decision stopping the development plan, independent commissioner Greg Hill found the non-complying development would have more than minor adverse effects and some significant adverse effects on the landscape, the area's visual amenity, the lack of open space, transportation and car parking that could not be avoided, remedied or mitigated. The development also did not provide for protection of Mauao.

TCAL still has some work to do before deciding whether the decision is appealable, says David Stewart.

'I think it just needs a bit of investigation into the points the commissioner picked up on and what could be done with those,” says David.

'If there is some room to move, what affect that would have on the business case. So there's a bit of work to be done to sort it out one way or the other.”

Tauranga City Aquatics Ltd, a council-owned company, wanted land use consent to take 24 camp sites from the Mount domain camp for the project to expand the hot pools area from about 3285sqm to about 5445sqm by about 2160sqm.

The 5.15ha of public land is a conservation zone within the Tauranga City Plan and is classified as a recreation reserve under the Reserves Act.

The Mount Hot Pools currently make about $500,000 a year, according to information in the decision. The profits are not used to maintain the run-down hot pools, but are diverted to bolster other TCAL pools at Greerton, Memorial Park and Otumoetai.