Contact Energy Ltd v Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council

COURT OR TRIBUNAL

Environment Court of New Zealand

DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)

04/10/2010

LITIGATION TYPE

Project Approval - Mitigation

SUBJECT MATTER

Wind farm

REVIEW TYPE

Merits review

SUMMARY

(Lexis Catchwords &Digest)

Administrative law — Offences — Factors considered — Length of lapse period and potential adverse effects

Appeal against decision of respondent councils declining resource consents. Respondent councils jointly appointed commissioners to hear and decide upon applications by applicant for resource consents to enable applicant to establish and operate windfarm. Applications were made to Regional Council for land use resource consents and for water permits. Application to District Council was for land use consent. Commissioners declined all applications. Established lapse period of ten years was unreasonably long and applicant unable to give effect to consents within that time, applicant had opportunity to explain and request consent authority to agree to longer period. Established general view that all necessary resource consents should be sought at same time so that effects of any one proposal could be comprehensively considered need not be invariable view. Established appropriate in circumstances to consider proposal and for any subsequent transmission proposal to be considered in own right. Established extensive new evidence presented, particularly about potential effects on karst landforms, water and ecosystems, produced proposal that was so different in effects that Commissioners' decision was of very limited assistance. Established consents granted (or not) for activities, after consideration of actual and potential effects on environment. Accordingly, some effects of sediment on water might occur, were not so likely to occur, or to be of such significance if occurred, that resource consents should be declined. Appeal allowed.

CASE DOCUMENTS

Contact Energy Ltd v Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council [2010] NZEnvC 406