Council won't appeal halt on wharf extensions

The Ports of Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell

Auckland Council has today announced it will not appeal a High Court ruling which found the consents for two controversial wharf extensions should not have been granted without the public first having a say.

Mayor Len Brown said in a statement: "We received the court's decision on Friday and, after discussions with my fellow councillors, we agree that we accept this judgement and will not appeal the decision."

Mr Brown said the High Court did not criticise the council's consenting process but identified two technical errors of law made in the consenting decisions.

"The High Court believes the consent applications should have been bundled and treated as a single application and should have been publicly notified."

Mr Brown had previously insisted the council "could not legally decline or publicly notify" consents for two controversial wharf extensions nearly 100m into the Waitemata Harbour at the end of Bledisloe Wharf.

A council media release in March, headed "The Facts", said the consents were issued and consented under the operational Regional Coastal Plan rules for the port," inherited from the former Auckland Regional Council, and as such could not be legally declined nor could they be publicly notified, as the structures were a controlled activity".

The release made no mention of a "special cirsumstances" provision, which Justice Geoffrey Venning said "required notification in this case".

The council has spent about $500,000 in legal cost defending its decisions to grant the consents late last year.

Ports of Auckland, which has stopped work on a $22 million contract to build the extensions, has not said if it will appeal the ruling.