A High Court judge has reserved a decision in a judicial review which could force the Napier City Council to repeat the Marineland future consultation it completed more than three years ago.
At the end of a hearing scheduled to run for two days but completed within five hours, Justice Jillian Mallon said she hoped her decision would be available in the next few weeks.
The review came about through an application by the Friends of Marineland New Zealand Inc, challenging the process by which the council closed the Marine Parade tourism icon to the public in 2009.
The society, through counsel Philip Ross, alleged a closed-door council decision in 2001 predetermined the outcome of public consultation more than seven years later.
Up against Government opposition to holding of dolphins in captivity, Marineland's closure to the public was projected for after the death of either of the two remaining dolphins, Shona and Kelly.
Mr Ross said the decision was not made public, and was not even known to long-serving staff until Shona, a veteran of 32 years at Marineland, died in 2006.