Billionaire Peter Thiel is struggling with opposition from New Zealand environmental groups more than his programs to construct a luxurious lodge in Wānaka, an alpine city on the South Island. A organization owned by Thiel had lodged a consent application for a sprawling lodge on his residence, which would consist of a “pod” for the operator himself, water attributes and meditation area. The consent describes “a series of stand-by itself structures, together with a lodge for visitor accommodation for up to 24 friends, accommodation pod for the owner, alongside one another with involved lodge management structures, infrastructure, landscape procedure, water features and meditation space”. The earthworks expected to make it…