Hemi v Waikato District Council

COURT OR TRIBUNAL

Environment Court of New Zealand

DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)

04/03/2010

LITIGATION TYPE

Project Approval - Adaptation, Project Approval - Adaptation

SUBJECT MATTER

Coastal hazard, Sea level rise

REVIEW TYPE

Judicial review

SUMMARY

(Excerpt from judgment)

[1] After having lived overseas in Japan for a number of years, Mr Hemi wishes to return to New Zealand to live with his wife and two young children at Whaingaroa/Raglan. The Hemi Te Whanau Trust owns a piece of land at Te Whaanga ("the Hemi Land") to which Mr Hemi has ancestral and personal links. Mr Hemi wishes to build a family home on this land which is located on the landward side of an in-filled boulder spit. …

[2] In terms of the then Operative Waikato District Plan and the now Proposed Waikato District Plan, Mr Hemi needs a resource consent for his new home because it is a non-complying activity. …

[3] The Waikato District Council's regulatory committee heard Mr Hemi's application for resource consent in December 2005. In its decision dated January 2006, the committee declined consent based solely on the fact that it considered there to be an unacceptable risk of coastal inundation. It is from this decision that Mr Hemi now appeals. In this Court he is now supported by the Waikato District Council and Ms Greensill, but Dr Helen Ritchie opposes.

[4] The actual and potential environmental effects of the proposal are effects associated with coastal hazard, the existing ecology of the site and the impact on natural character, landscape and amenity values. Cultural effects also need to be considered, as in this case there is a dispute between hapu as to whether or not a building is appropriate on the site at all. In addition Mr Hemi and Ms Greensill contend that there are positive cultural effects which flow from the proposal because a presence on the site will enable kaitiakitanga to be exercised more readily. It also enables the Hemi family to establish a homestead on the site.

CASE DOCUMENTS

Hemi v Waikato District Council [2010] NZEnvC 216