17 May 2006

The Whangamata Marina Society’s application for a swift track hearing of their judicial review against the Minister of Conservation, Chris Carter, has been granted by the Wellington High Court.

“We have been given a hearing date of 15 August to 17 August,” the Society President, Mick Kelly, said today.

At issue is the Minister’s decision to over-ride a recommendation by the Environment Court that the marina should proceed.

The Society will argue that the Minister and his officials misunderstood their statutory role, were influenced by information outside the Environment Court process and failed to give adequate consideration to mandatory considerations under the Resource Management Act.

“We argued that further delay would only aggravate the injustice we have suffered,” Mr Kelly said.

“This has been a long and arduous procedure. We invested $1.3 million and 27 days in the Environment Court to get the Court’s approval for the project only to have the Minister come in over the top and without good reason render the Court proceedings null and void.

“It was a bitter experience and did nothing to encourage confidence in the legal system.

“We look forward now to this opportunity to remedy the wrong done to us,” Mr Kelly said.

ENDS

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