Auckland port: Devonport resident to appeal after interim injunction denied

Photo / Brett Phibbs

Devonport resident Carol Banks is planning to file an appeal in the Court of Appeal after the High Court in Auckland declined an interim injunction she brought today to stop work on two wharf extensions at Ports of Auckland.

Ms Banks, a Devonport resident for 30 years whose home overlooks the Waitemata Harbour, said she represented the huge number of Aucklanders who are very concerned at being left out of the decision making process and the environmental effects of the extensions.

"I personally would like to honour the legacy left by former Auckland City Mayor Sir Dove Myer-Robinson who kept sewage out of the harbour.

She has instructed her lawyer, Anna Longdill, to file an appeal in the Court of Appeal. This could happen today.

This morning, Justice Geoffrey Venning declined the application by Ms Banks for interim order to halt work on the wharf extensions.

The judge proposed that a substantive application be heard at the same time or immediately following a similar case.

Urban Auckland, a society of architects and planning professionals, has filed a separate case seeking a judicial review challenging the lawfulness of the consents for the extensions.

That case is set down for a hearing on June 2.

In Ms Banks' case, Justice Venning said he was not prepared to deal with the matter on an interim basis, or between now and June 2, saying it would not be an effective or efficient use of the court's time.

The judge said that Jim Farmer, QC, acting for the ports company, had confirmed an undertaking in the Urban Auckland case would apply in the Banks' case.

The undertaking was if the court ruled the consents were unlawful, work on the extensions would stop and if the port company reapplied for consents and they were not granted it would dismantle the structures.

Justice Venning said the concerns of the applicant are genuinely held and maybe representative of a number of Aucklanders.

He said other considerations were the proper interests of the Ports of Auckland in relation to such an important issue as to whether work which is being carried out pursuant to a contract with other parties for which a resource consent had been obtained.

Meanwhile, Auckland councillors are holding a meeting behind closed doors this afternoon to consider a response from the board of Ports of Auckland to a letter asking it to halt work on the extensions while a wide-ranging ports study is done.
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