Mackenzie District's Mayor is playing down concerns of a planned mega farm near Lake Pukaki

Simons Pass Station, owned by developer Murray Valentine has applied for consent to build three dairy sheds and 14 houses near the base of Mount Cook.

Greenpeace say the site is home to 18 threatened plants and four threatened bird species including the black stilt.

But Mayor Graham Smith says there are rumours of 15-thousand cows but that's probably not correct.

He says one shed has been granted consent - the rest are on hold.