Commissioner Graham Taylor granted conditional land use approval to the Southern Parallel Equine Center Limited (SPEC) last Thursday.
It had already received approval from Environment Canterbury in March.
Project director Catherine Stuart said her team's long-term focus, purpose, dedication and continued patience have paid off.
“Subject to a few conditions placed on SPEC, we are cleared to move forward with our pioneering plans to bring growth, opportunity and income to the Ashburton region.
“The SPEC team looks forward to supporting and further developing the equestrian sector in the region and wider areas.
“The team looks forward to the work ahead to establish SPEC, ensuring future success in cementing Ashburton as an equestrian destination.”
Once you have 'overcome' the hurdles of obtaining resource consent, the next step is to obtain building consent.
The plan is to develop the 65 hectares of land next to Lake Hood and SPEC aims to begin construction later this year for an expected opening before the end of 2025.
According to the consent documents, the horse center would have an indoor horse sales centre, a veterinary clinic, stables with 650 stalls and training arenas, as well as fields for show jumping, dressage, eventing, polo training and paddocks.
It was estimated that the project would create 850 jobs during construction, and once fully operational, could employ 160 people.
Phase two would be an SPC Life Skills and Education Centre, the base of the project, built on a separate site.
Thirty conditions are attached to the permission, including that the conditions can be revised annually by the district council.
Taylor was pleased with the proposed 25 calendar day limit for events, with events classified as having more than 50 attendees and each event requiring a traffic management plan.
By Jonathan Leask
Local democracy reporter
■ LDR is local journalism, co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.