{"id":126075,"date":"2022-03-17T04:55:01","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T04:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=126075"},"modified":"2022-03-17T04:55:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T04:55:01","slug":"carmel-and-hugh-fisher-plan-luxury-resort-near-omaha-marae-and-urupa-pa-site-on-the-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/carmel-and-hugh-fisher-plan-luxury-resort-near-omaha-marae-and-urupa-pa-site-on-the-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Carmel and Hugh Fisher plan luxury resort near \u014cmaha Marae and urup\u0101; p\u0101 site on the land"},"content":{"rendered":"
An Auckland couple who established a $13 billion investment firm are planning to develop a luxury resort on land with an archaeologically important p\u0101 site and the only vehicle accessway to the \u014cmaha Marae and<\/span> a sacred urup\u0101.<\/span><\/p>\n Panetiki, owned by Hugh and Carmel Fisher, formerly of Fisher Funds, has applied to Auckland Council to demolish existing buildings and develop new ones on a headland north of Leigh.<\/p>\n But their plans last year to get helicopter landing rights on their headland an hour north of Auckland have been abandoned, the application said.<\/p>\n In 2019, the Herald reported the couple had paid $12 million for the 9ha headland.<\/p>\n The North Shore couple’s plans are open for submissions till Monday due to having restricted discretionary aspects to the scheme.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Fishers’ land is the only vehicle accessway to the urup\u0101 and local marae at Waikowhai\/Little Omaha. Iwi have access rights over the Fishers’ site.<\/p>\n Annie Baines of Ng\u0101ti Wai said her t\u016bpuna were buried in the urup\u0101, which was originally accessed via sea, with t\u016bp\u0101paku hauled up from below via a tree.<\/p>\n Her grandmother once owned the accessway to the marae and urup\u0101 “but in the 80s we got rated off the land. They sold it for $60,000”, she said.<\/p>\n Ng\u0101ti Wai backs the couple’s plans, Baines said, and the relationship between the two parties was excellent.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We have no problems with Hugh or Carmel. They have taken us for a walk around their property. We are in contact quite often. It’s correct that the roadway does belong to them but we keep in contact quite a lot. If we have tangi, they stop work. They are very respectful,” she said.<\/p>\n But Ng\u0101ti Manuhiri Settlement Trust, chaired by Mook Hohneck, is concerned about discharge and proximity to the urup\u0101. The trust’s rohe goes from Bream Tail\/Mangawhai to the north to the Okura river mouth south of Whangapar\u0101oa and includes the development land.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “A cultural values assessment prepared by iwi [raised] issues, some of which have been addressed by amendments made, while others are, from an iwi perspective, unresolved,” the Fishers’ application to the council acknowledges.<\/p>\n The site is at the end of \u014cmaha Block Access Rd on a headland looking towards Leigh.<\/p>\n Carmel Fisher, who has been called a “trailblazer” in the finance world, told the Herald she didn’t want to comment on the application “because we don’t have a resource consent, it’s very early”. But she indicated she had confidence in the plans and opportunities for visitors to stay.<\/p>\n High-end luxury visitor accommodation is planned and one local said there was talk “that people like George Clooney would be coming to stay”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Planning and management consultants Lane Associates said consent was sought for luxury accommodation for 22 guests with a tennis court and swimming pool and duty manager residence.<\/p>\n The main accommodation building will have six guest suites with en suites, lounge spaces, kitchen and restaurant with a basement room and level one, accessed via a lift.<\/p>\n Four suites will be in a separate building with a shared kitchen, dining, living and library spaces. The aim is that four couples could have this entire building for maximum privacy. Covered balconies are planned.<\/p>\n An individual secluded unit for one couple is also planned as the most expensive accommodation.<\/p>\n A laundry and separate manager’s accommodation to provide 24-hour on-site service is also planned.<\/p>\n Another accommodation block which might be the Fishers’ own place is also proposed.<\/p>\n A pavilion is proposed as shelter alongside a tennis court and that building will have bathroom and toilets, outdoor entertaining areas, dining and socialising zones.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n No images were provided of the plans but designs will be “striking but simple” using concrete, glass and stone.<\/p>\n Road access is being upgraded and a new bridge is under construction, the Lane report said.<\/p>\n On-site undercover parking for guest and lodge service vehicles is planned too.<\/p>\n A swimming pool and spa pools, gym, sauna and massage facilities are also planned.<\/p>\n “Essentially, the lodge has been designed to offer a very private and self-contained luxury accommodation experience that takes advantage of the site’s ambience of peace and tranquillity within a spectacular coastal setting’,” said the application from Lane.<\/p>\n The boundary alongside the marae and urup\u0101 will be planted with tall-growing species including titoki, nikau and kohuhu to provide more privacy between the sites.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2017, Carmel Fisher sold out of Fisher Funds, now manager of $13b-plus and with more than 250,000 investors.<\/p>\n Consultants Geometria said the Fisher land was the site of the traditionally sacred tree and is a traditional site of high significance to Ng\u0101ti Manuhiri, according to the archaeological assessment.<\/p>\n Many aspects of the proposal do not comply with planning regulations. Visitor accommodation is discretionary and the land is zoned rural, having been farmed for many years.<\/p>\n But new buildings will generally be developed near the footprints of the existing buildings, Lane argued.<\/p>\n The Danish Society owns a 7ha site neighbouring the Fisher land and has its Valhalla coastal retreat there.<\/p>\n Lane said the land was zoned rural but buildings would be located so as to “respect the coastal character” of the site.<\/p>\n