An overseas investor's bid to build a wedding venue and holiday homes near Lake Pukaki in Canterbury has been turned down.
Lake Pukaki Photo: 123RF
Four applicants, three from China and one from New Zealand, applied to the Overseas Investment Office to buy just over 19 hectares of sensitive land.
"The applicant intended to develop an observatory and wedding chapel on the land and subdivide part of the land into residential lots to be sold to third parties for holiday homes which the applicant would manage," the decision said.
The Office declined the application, saying it was not convinced the developments would occur.
"For consent to be granted, the decision maker needed to be satisfied that the investment would result in substantial and identifiable benefit to New Zealand and that the applicant had business experience and acumen relevant to the investment," the decision said.