Luxury accommodation plan at The Lane Vineyard in Hahndorf rejected by special council panel

Luxury cabins for richlisters planned for a top hillside SA winery have been knocked back at a six-hour meeting after locals said they were like a “satellite city”.

Artist impression of the rejected luxury accommodation units and day spa for The Lane Vineyard at Hahndorf. Picture: Intro Architecture

A luxury tourist development at an Adelaide Hills winery has been unanimously rejected at a marathon sitting, after a council panel found its design, size and siting would “detract significantly” from its surroundings.

The Lane Vineyard would have leased part of its Hahndorf land to SA developer Luxury Lodge Group, which had proposed 20 high-end villas with timber decks, day spa, carparking and associated works in a corner of its award-winning winery.

But the $12.5m plans, submitted more than two years ago, were rejected on Wednesday night amid community backlash, with Adelaide Hills Council’s independent assessment panel also finding they wouldn’t “contribute positively” to the site because of its size, “intensity and significant external impacts”.

While the proposal fell within SA’s planning code, it would have an adverse impact on the views and outlook, while the proposed earthworks would cause significant disturbance and scarring of the lush Hills land.

Planning documents lodged by Luxury Lodge Group list Luxury Hotels Australia as a client, however The Advertiser has been told that is an error. ASIC records show Adelaide planners Damien Ellis and Anthony Gatti of Intro Architecture are directors of Luxury Lodge Group.

Artist impression of the rejected luxury accommodation units and day spa for The Lane Vineyard at Hahndorf. Picture: Intro Architecture

Mr Ellis said they were reviewing further options for the project.

Jared Stringer, CEO of The Lane – which is on the market for about $20m – said The Lane was not a proponent and couldn’t comment.

The villas would have been able to house 48 people in total, boasted sweeping views of the Adelaide Hills, while a “world class” spa and wellness retreat was planned for the site.

Plans at one point included a helicopter pad for celebrities or rich-listers.

Neighbour Darren Kelly, who owns a small acreage, said it would have been like placing a “satellite city” on top of the hill, creating privacy and run-off issues, noise from guests paying premium prices and extra cars.

He was one of 25 people who spoke in opposition at Wednesday night’s six-hour meeting. In total, the plans attracted 73 written submissions, one in favour.

People at Wednesday night's special Adelaide Hills council assessment panel, which unanimously rejected The Lane Vineyard's tourism plan.

“You’re talking 20 units with a large lodge, all of which would be in a very high-density area, no more than three and a half hectares,” Mr Kelly said.

“But it’s not just the units, it’s the infrastructure required to support that – there’s no mains water, so you need large sources of potable water, firewater, septic tanks – the EPA has concerns about run-off into the catchment area.”

Mr Kelly said the septics tanks would have been two metres from his boundary.

“If you’re within two metres of raw sewage, it’s going to smell,” he said. “And putting that in a low-lying area prone to flooding makes no sense.”

Artist impression of the rejected luxury accommodation units and day spa for The Lane Vineyard at Hahndorf. Picture: Intro Architecture

He said the approved waste system was a closed system relying on bamboo beds to “attempt to get rid of effluent via evaporation through the leaves”.

“The trouble is, the quantity of the bamboo beds they needed to deal with the level of waste generated by the site far exceeded the amount of space available – and that was based on the underestimated wastewater volumes.

“They went with the bare minimum the code allows – 100L per person, per day, for an accommodation cited as ‘luxury level’, but people would use way more than that.”

Planning documents show run-off concerns were raised by council engineers but not fully addressed by developers.

Mr Kelly said The Lane villa proposal showed flaws within SA’s planning system.

“The fact that the referral agencies such as the EPA and SA Health operate in silos, and in this case, seems they made determinations based on partial or incomplete information, and everything is taken at face value,” he said.

Artist impression of the rejected luxury accommodation units and day spa for The Lane Vineyard at Hahndorf. Picture: Intro Architecture

“The applicants put in this 100L per day calculation and no one has questioned it – it’s taken a concerned community to unpack this whole thing. How did this even get to where a CAP is considering this project?

“It’s insane. It’s putting people’s properties and health at risk.

“Had this gone ahead – and it’s still in the approval stages so it could go down that path – it would have failed completely.”

A spokesperson for Planning Minister Nick Champion said just this week, the Business Council of Australia had ranked SA’s planning system as the best in Australia, thanks to its speed, efficiency and transparency.