A big loss for Ports of Auckland

The Herald reports:

Urban Auckland has won a court case challenging the lawfulness of the resource consents for two wharf extensions at Ports of Auckland.

Justice Geoffrey Venning has issued a decision today saying the consents issued on a non-notified business are set aside.

The judge said the decision to proceed without notification was flawed for two reasons.

He said the multiple consents should have been bundled “which would have required notification, as the most restrictive activity was a discretionary activity”.

Alternatively, the judge said, a “special circumstances” clause existed which required notification in this case.

“The Commissioners fell into error in determining that because the extension was a controlled activity and an expected development no special circumstances existed so that it was unnecessary to notify in any event,” Justice Venning said.

This means that the consent for any extensions has to go through a public notification process. I’m confident in predicting the chances of getting the consents are now very close to zero.