Wellington's sister city Xiamen is expected to build a tea pavilion, shown here, in the proposed Chinese Garden.

Another legal fight could be in store over Wellington's waterfront after plans for a Chinese garden at Frank Kitts Park were given the go-ahead.

An independent commissioners hearing announced on Friday that it had granted resource consent for Wellington City Council to begin a $10.5 million revamp of the park.

The development includes a $5 million Garden of Beneficence, which will be funded by the Wellington Chinese Garden Society with support from the capital's sister cities Xiamen, Beijing and Tianjin.

STANTIALL'S STUDIO LTD/SUPPLIED A traditional Pai Lau archway is included in the designs.

Cutting down plans for the park could have sparked a diplomatic incident because the council has already promised the mayor of Xiamen and Chinese President Xi Jinping​ it will go ahead.

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However, Waterfront Watch president Patrick McCombs described the granting of consent as "disappointing", and said the group would consider getting legal advice about a possible challenge in the Environment Court.

STANTIALL'S STUDIO LTD/SUPPLIED Material for the garden will be sourced in China.

He believed the majority of Wellingtonians did not want to the area to be changed as proposed. In previous comments, he said turning the amphitheatre into a "lawn" was pointless.

"There's no public clamouring. No-one is asking to get rid of Frank Kitts Park."

The group has challenged four previous waterfront projects in the Environment Court, winning three times. Past scalps included plans for a Hilton Hotel and the Kumutoto development.

STANTIALL'S STUDIO LTD/SUPPLIED The proposed revamp of Frank Kitts Park has been designed to open up harbour views.

"We would rather work with the council in the managing of the waterfront than be forced to oppose them in court," he said on Friday.

Opponents of the resource consent have 15 days in which to appeal.

City councillor Nicola Young felt it would be a shame if the Chinese garden went ahead on the waterfront. However, "we need to find a home for it somewhere, because it's been promised".

FAIRFAX NZ The face of Frank Kitts Park is looking set to change.

"The Chinese community has been an important part of Wellington for a long time, but it's about finding a solution that works."

In the hearing commissioners' decision, the Wellington Chinese Garden Society said that a harbourside location had always been the preference as it related back to the way many immigrants from China arrived in the city.

"They considered that suggestions it be in other locations, such as the Botanic Gardens, in Haining St, or adjacent to the Chinese Embassy, neither practicable nor desirable," the decision said.

The garden's design referenced the landscape while using "the essential elements of a garden based upon fundamental Chinese design traditions to create a locally inflected, site-specific contemporary Chinese Garden".

The decision also addressed, among other issues, the potential loss of open green usable space, but argued it was "balanced by the increased functionality of the lawn and playground areas".

"ROOTS ARE STARTING"

Wellington Chinese Garden Society chairman Harvey Wu described the news as "tremendous", and said plans for the garden could finally progress positively.

It had been about 20 years since the project was first mooted, and now "the roots are starting".

"The idea was to build a garden and give it back to the city."

It was hoped the garden would be ready by the 30-year anniversary of the sister city arrangement in June next year, but that now looks likely to be delayed.

PAST WATERFRONT SCRAPS

Hilton Hotel

In September 2006, Greater Wellington Regional Council granted Waterfront Investments Ltd various resource consents allowing it to construct, use and maintain a hotel on a site known as the Outer-T of Queens Wharf. In March 2008, the Environment Court accepted the development would have provided benefits to the wider community, but ruled they would be achieved at the expense of many of the qualities that made the site special and unique.

Kumutoto Wharf

In February 2012, Wellington City Council unveiled plans for a six-storey building on a site opposite the NZ Post building. Opponents argued the scale of the designs would destroy the unique maritime character of waterfront heritage buildings, and effectively privatise swaths of open space. The Environment Court upheld their appeal.