The large pool Russian billionaire Alexander Abramov likes heated to 30 degrees when he stays at his Helena Bay lodge. Photo/ Greg Bowker
The large pool Russian billionaire Alexander Abramov likes heated to 30 degrees when he stays at his Helena Bay lodge. Photo/ Greg Bowker
Consent given for a Russian oligarch to use 60,000 litres a day of fresh, local water for the garden at his luxury lodge is a "slap in the face", some locals say.
Businessman Alexander Abramov will use the water in summer at his $50 million resort in Helena Bay, Northland.
Abramov, who is worth several billion dollars according to Forbes, is a former scientist who made his fortune by amassing the largest steel and iron empire in Russia.
Locals who gather watercress from the stream the water was consented from have called it "frivolous" and a "slap in the face" to Maori, Fairfax reported.
A non-notified resource consent to extract up to 60,000 litres of water a day from the nearby stream was granted to Abramov by the Northland Regional Council.
A spokesman for Abramov said growing grass was creating life and so the request for water consent was not frivolous. Photo/ Greg Bowker
Lodge staff apologised for failing to properly consult with neighbours, Abramov's spokesman Chris Seel told Fairfax.
However he said the water was only 3 per cent of the river's lowest flow levels and it was needed to showcase a clean, green image of New Zealand to wealthy visitors.
"There is no recorded history of this stream running dry or close to dry," he said.
"What is the purpose of water? It is to create life. We are growing grass, I do not think that is frivolous at all."
In New Zealand, common law dictates that naturally-flowing freshwater is treated as a public good, or that "no one owns the water".
As such, there are no charges for water in New Zealand, only for infrastructure - like the maintenance of the pipes that bring it to your house - or for resource consent application and monitoring fees paid to regional councils by water users such as farmers, horticulturists or bottlers.
The fight for the country's water has heated up in recent months with some Kiwis starting to fight back against the idea that large commercial operators can take the water essentially for free.
