Media statement

15 January 2014

Two companies fined for unlawful works on residential development sites

Two property developers have been fined by the Auckland District Court for residential developments carried out in breach of the Resource Management Act (RMA).

Union Development Ltd, a property development company, was fined $42,750 for the discharge of a large quantity of concrete from a residential development to the Wairaki Stream in Lynfield. This occurred while a retaining wall was being constructed. The concrete was up to 25cm thick in places in the stream and extended for about 100 metres through Lynfield Reserve. Several eels and fish were killed by the concrete.

In sentencing Union Development, Judge Harland found that the company was negligent in relation to its environmental obligations: “A message needs to be given that those who undertake property development, even on a small scale, need to make themselves fully aware of their environmental obligations, and they must actively manage the development themselves or arrange for that management to be undertaken by a project manager. If the property developer is not familiar with the requirements, then the obligation is on them to employ a person who is.”

Another property developer, SCD Ltd, was fined $17,812 for continually failing to comply with resource consent conditions by carrying out works in the drip line of scheduled Kahikatea and Rimu trees, including severing several of the tree roots, and pruning trees without consent. The company had been warned several times by council employees and issued with abatement notices, but still failed to comply with the RMA.

In sentencing SCD, Judge Harland noted that the trees were more than 100 years old and were highly valued by the surrounding neighbours, and that part of the offending was deliberate and included a breach of an abatement notice. She said that “a clear message must be given to developers that deliberately breaching resource consent conditions or abatement notices is taken seriously.”

Auckland Council Resource Consents Compliance Manager, Stefan Naude, says that these prosecutions send a message to all property developers that they must ensure that they are aware of their obligations under the RMA and that their developments are properly managed.

“The prosecution of SCD Ltd also makes it clear that repeated breaches of the Resource Management Act and abatement notices will not be tolerated and enforcement action will be taken against those responsible.”

ENDS

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