A challenge to a Chinese water bottling giant's plans to produce and fill a billion bottles of water from a Whakatāne aquifer each year has made it to the country's second-highest court, as a local iwi continues its quest to have the plans scrapped.
Creswell NZ, a subsidiary of multi-billion dollar Chinese water bottling giant Nungfu Spring, was granted consent by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council in 2018 to bottle water from the Otakiri Aquifer.
However, the issue of consent has been consistently challenged by local iwi Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa, which says that the bottling activity would significantly damage the mauri, or life force, of the water which holds special significance to the iwi.
The iwi previously challenged Bay of Plenty Regional Council's issuing of the consent in cases taken to both the High Court and Environment Court - both of which were unsuccessful, although the judgment of the latter challenge was split two to one.