A cancer recovery centre near Whakatāne has been given the green light, despite opposition from neighbouring landowners.

After a hearing, Whakatāne District Council granted resource consent for Ozgur (Jahn) Iseri to build five two-person accommodation units on his 1.92 hectare site on Maraetotara Road, in Ōhope in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

An original resource consent application was made in June 2021 for a larger scale holiday park with 15 units, which included a water slide, however, this has since been significantly scaled down.

Like his Turkish restaurant on The Strand, the accommodation facility is to be named after the former Turkish president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

While Ataturk Holiday Retreat is not intended to be a “health centre”, as such, Mr Iseri told Local Demcoracy Reporting [Beacon]. The intention was to create a space where people who had undergone cancer treatment could recover through eating organic fruit and vegetables, much of which he intends to grow on-site, he said.

Mr Iseri who is originally from Turkey, said he has a sister, Şule who is recovering from bowel cancer in Turkey.

“My goal is to bring her here to accommodate her for a few months," he said.

"We would like to be able to take the people who have had chemotherapy, to accomodate them in a place where they will feel comfortable and feed them organic food to help build their immune system.

“I am trying to do something [in Ōhope] that nobody has done before. Something that focuses on people’s health. Cancer is a big problem in this country.”

He has engaged a landscaping company and is planning to plant around 40 fruit trees. He said once the retreat became established he planned to investigate whether there was any potential on his property for thermal hot water, which could be used for therapeutic purposes.

He had previously built one chalet-style cabin on the property as a “concept unit”. But after finding out it would be a hard shape to build, the design has been changed.

The resource consent decision handed down from the hearing panel said following an independent commission’s determination on August 1 last year, the application underwent a limited notification process with five submissions made, including from adjoining property owners and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa.

Concerns were raised around potential flooding of neigbouring properties caused by any earthworks on the site, leaching of effluent from the wastewater disposal field and consequential odours, noise, and potential reverse-sensitivity impediments to nearby farms.

As a pre-commencement condition of building the units, Mr Iseri must be granted resource consent from Bay of Plenty Regional Council for on-site wastewater disposal.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.