A part of the Queenstown Lakes District Plan Review RMM have worked with Gibbston Valley Station and the Townplanning Group to establish a resort zone within the proposed Queenstown Lakes District Plan. This has included the development of a structure plan, preparation of visual simulations along with landscape and visual evidence for Council Hearings. RMM also contributed to the formulation of rules to be included in the District Plan. The resort zone has been accepted and sits within the proposed Queenstown Lakes District Plan.

The Structure Plan for the Gibbston Valley Resort Zone contains several activity areas where built form and a range of activities are to occur which notably avoid Outstanding Natural Features and Landscapes. In addition, the Structure Plan identifies areas to be planted and managed as productive areas of the landscape which help uphold the character of the wider Gibbston area while serving the ancillary purpose of mitigating the effects of built form and activities from State Highway 6.

The resort zone contains provision for resort style short stay accommodation, a culinary school, a nine-hole golf course, a Vintners Village which will become the community hub for Gibbston offering facilities not only for the guests at the resort, but also the residents of the resort and in the wider community. It is intended this will become a gathering place where locals and visitors come together.

The residential activity will be clustered throughout the resort in enclaves surrounded by vineyards, horticultural plantings, and open countryside. The resort zone will also offer short and long-term accommodation for those working not only on the resort but in the wider Gibbston community.

RMM’s more recent work has focused on the rezoning of some of the Stations land that sits on a terrace above the Gibbston Valley floor, to Rural Visitor Zone. This has been successful.