Sounds like the main reasons for not providing access are really are about organization and governance. Fair enough.
Depending on what exactly your requirement is, there are a couple of options:
- have a system copy as a sandpit. Get table definitions over with a fraction of the data to work with and you can try out any statement you like. This copied system could run on the same hardware as the QA and DEV system, maybe even as a DB container.
- create a DEV schema with views to the actual tables/views in the production schema. You can setup read-only authorization this way and prevent anyone from modifying the prod schema. This would be a bit of a 'wobbly' solution as the DEV schema would need to be maintained if changes in the prod schema are made.
- if it is really just about syntax checking (hard to believe) than you also might just setup a small HANA instance and put the SHINE content on.
So there are some options to discuss with your DBAs.