Repeatedly taking water from a council fire hydrant has come back to bite a land restoration company after it was hauled before the courts.
Evergreen Landcare, which has branches around New Zealand including Hastings and Auckland, was warned three times not to take water from Hamilton City Council fire hydrants before charges were finally laid.
Nobody from the company appeared in the Hamilton District Court this morning, instead its managing director Hamish Cunningham wrote a letter pleading guilty to one charge of breaching the Hamilton City Water Supply Bylaw 2013.
Community magistrate Ngaire Mascelle took into account Cunningham's apology and the fact he had given his staff more training and advised them of their legal obligations.
Court documents state that Evergreen did have a permit to take from the council's water supply, but it expired on October 5, 2017 and was not renewed.