Weir v Kapiti Coast District Council

COURT OR TRIBUNAL

High Court of New Zealand

DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)

24/06/2013

LITIGATION TYPE

Project Approval - Adaptation

SUBJECT MATTER

Coastal hazard

REVIEW TYPE

Judicial review

SUMMARY

(Lexis Catchwords & Digest)

Local government — Town planning — Land Information Memoranda (LIM) — Coastal hazard erosion information

Application for judicial review. Respondent Council commissioned applied coastal scientist (scientist) to undertake coastal hazard erosion assessment for district. Scientist submitted two reports in 2008 and second final report in 2012, which provided scientific basis for respondent's coastal erosion planning. Upon delivery of second report in 2012, respondent decided to place on its cadastral maps, series of coastal erosion hazard 'prediction lines' derived from scientist's findings. Lines covered entire 38 km of open coastline within district, together with 12 separate river or estuarine inlets along length.

Respondent considered reports were information under (NZ) Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 s 44A(2)(a) which set out information to be included on Land Information Memoranda (LIMs) issued by respondent. Claimed s 44A(6) removed any discretion respondent had to withheld coastal erosion information. Applicants sought judicial review.

Established reports which included 50 and 100 year prediction lines sufficiently robust to satisfy fairly low threshold which related to potential erosion. Established erosion information sufficiently site-specific to be caught by s 44A(2)(a) as such was unquestionably about potential erosion, and respondent was trying to warn market about potential local effects of such global phenomenon. Established s 44A(6) required some reference to coastal erosion information to be included in LIMs in relation to affected titles and respondent had broad discretion as to how respondent represented scientist's information on LIMs.