Environment Court mediation over the appealed decision not to give consent for a redevelopment at Mount Hot Pools decision has failed.

Tauranga City Aquatics Limited is appealing commissioner Greg Hill's decision declining resource consent to expand the Mount Hot Pools and before it went to court there was an effort made at mediation.

Councillor Catherine Stewart at the Mount Hot Pools.

The mediation was attended by TCAL, Tauranga City Council and MPS, and Tauranga City Councillor Catherine Stewart says this did not go so well.

'We had a commissioner there to mediate and ideas were exchanged, but at the end of the day it looks like it will end up at the Environment Court,” says Catherine, 'though I understand elected members will have some input.”

The council approved money for TCAL to go to mediation, says Catherine.

Now the council controlled organisation will have to talk to the councillors again.

The Mount Protection Society's lawyer, Robert Makgill, says there will be no more mediation.

'The parties have agreed to a timetable and we are seeking a hearing date,” says Robert.

'What we can say is that division between the parties' positions is pretty wide.

'We have had discussions with them, but I just think the parties' different positions are too wide to resolve and so we need to seek a determination of the court.”

MPS member Fred Greenville can't believe that TCAL has the support of other council funded organisations including Priority One and Tourism BOP.

'Its beggar's belief that's happening because the council's pet pony TCAL is on a hiding to nothing,” says Fred.

'I cannot believe that Tourism Bay of Plenty and Priority One have been sucked in by the public relations company employed by Tania Delahunty on the promise that there's going to be millions of dollars in it for the business houses in the Mount-Tauranga area.”

The council has spent $200,000 upgrading the Pilot Bay boat ramp which has resulted in increased use of the facility with cars and trailer overflowing along The Mall on Saturdays.

A dozen or so ratepayer operated cafes and restaurants at the Mauao end of Marine Parade also rely on customers' ability to find car parks, says Fred, who notes, if all their parking is taken up by the customers at an expanded hot pools they will go broke.

He says the council's own projections show Mauao's tracks will also be attracting increased use and they will also require car parking.

An expanded hot pools complex, like the Polynesian Pools or Hamner Springs, will require 200 car parks and bus parking, none of which is available at the Mount.

'I am interested to know when the council is going to stop breastfeeding TCAL, Priority One and Tourism BOP,” says Fred.

'I'm looking forward to the day Stuart Crosby returns to running the council.”

Greg Hill found the redevelopment is non-complying under the Resource Management Act.

It would have more than minor adverse effects, with some significant adverse effects. These include the adverse effects on the landscape, visual amenity, the loss of open space and transportation especially car parking. These effects cannot be appropriately avoided remedied or mitigated and are not outweighed by the positive effects of the proposal.

The application is inconsistent with the operative and proposed district plan provisions relating to landscape protection, public open space amenity values, and transportation. It is of a scale not supported by the conservation zone which has as its main purpose to protect and conserve the values of the site, in this case the outstanding landscape feature of Mauao. It is also inconsistent with those related provisions in the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement and the regional policy statement.

Non-complying is a significant legal hurdle. The Mount Protection Society is totally opposed to any further encroachment of the hot pools onto public reserve land.