When the world falls apart, the Silicon Valley elite want to flee to New Zealand. The controversial billionaire Peter Thiel has already “bought” citizenship and large estates. However, he does not succeed in getting a building permit for his refuge.
Like other Silicon Valley billionaires, Peter Thiel fears the end of the world and mass uprising. The tech elite is preparing for this, and so is Thiel. New Zealand is considered the last refuge of these apocalyptists when the world perishes.
As early as 2011, Thiel paved the way for New Zealand citizenship with money. Normally, you are required to spend the vast majority of the year in the country in the last five years. Thiel came up with 12 days instead of the required 1350. However, an exception was made for him because of his investments and donations.
Now his company Second Star wanted to build a sprawling lodge in Wanaka. A mountainous and remote region. As expected, conservationists were up in arms against the plans, and the bad reputation of Trump supporter Thiel may also have contributed to the rebellion. The city council stopped the project. The bunker-like building would have too great a negative impact on the surrounding landscape, it said.
Long preparation
Thiel must have been thinking about the plans for his retreat for a long time. His friend Sam Altman spoke about it back in 2016. Of course, Thiel didn’t want to build a small hut. The application speaks of “a series of self-contained buildings,” including a “lodge for the accommodation of up to 24 guests,” plus a house for the owner and other buildings for lodge administration, infrastructure, landscaping, water features, and a meditation room. The meditation room has already been painted, but the facility would still have covered an area of more than 73,700 square meters, even though part of it was to be built into the hillside. But not enough. The rejection was not because of the facility’s size, but because of its visibility in the landscape around Mount Alpha. Overlooking Lake Wanaka, the luxury lodge is over 1000 square feet. Her frontage, jutting out of the hill, would dominate the view from a popular hiking trail. Thiel’s representatives suggested moving the course of the trail, but the commission did not want to get involved.
“The plan envisages a large, very long building that will… significantly detract from the quality and naturalness of the outstanding natural landscape… in the context of the Mount Alpha landscape, this is not appropriate,” the commission wrote.
community not pleased
Thiel bought the farm that owns the land in 2015 for $13.5 million. The previous owners had the opportunity to build a lodge, but in a different place. Thiel, on the other hand, wanted to build in the most beautiful spot, but the development plan only provides for very limited development there due to the outstanding natural landscape. For years, its representatives have been arguing with the community and the authorities. Thiel’s lawyers bemoan the mentality of the locals, who would not welcome the billionaire, but were only looking for reasons to bring the project down.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
