RESIDENTS of Oriental Bay are upset that council officers approved the construction of a building exceeding the area’s height limit while in mediation with various residents’ groups over the issue.

Monastery Escarpment Protection Group spokesperson Gael Webster was shocked during mediation talks with council officers this week to find another building had already been granted an exemption, without residents being notified.

The building at 136-142 Oriental Bay will be 2.8m above the 16m limit for that part of Oriental Bay.

"It shows a complete lack of good faith towards all the parties involved in the process," says Webster.

Council planning group manager Jane Davis says council officers used their discretionary powers to grant resource consent for the building. Discretionary powers are there to allow over-height buildings to be constructed where the effects are minor.

"Our urban designers decided that, in this case, the effects are minor," Davis says.

Residents do not agree. Grant Corleison, spokesperson for Dorchester Apartments, says his group thought there would be no exemptions to the 16m limit under the new District Plan guidelines.

"We would be amazed if their written words don’t mean what they say," says Corleison.

"The council was put on written notice to notify us of any resource consent applications. They notified us when the developer first put in his plans and said they didn’t comply and they had sent him back to the drawing board."

None of the groups involved in the mediation knew about the revised plans until the consent had been granted. Corleison is angry that the council is claiming the application was put in before the new guidelines were approved.

"This debate has been going on for five to six years."

The Oriental Bay resource consent is the latest in a long line of contentious exemptions granted by the council. Last week, the Environment Court gave the go-ahead for the development of a 41.5m building on the old Wellington Markets site on the corner of Cable and Taranaki Streets – 14.5m over the height limit in the district Plan.

In Oriental Bay, the issue is one of creeping heights. As the council grants one exemption, developers cite it as a precedent.

Corleison is concerned that, despite going through the motions of consultation, the city’s character by is being changed by stealth.

"The council has failed to consult with affected parties. It sets a precedent and within our lifetimes all of Oriental Bay will be wall-to-wall buildings. We will be seeking a judicial review."