Court ruling prevents paper avalanche over Long Bay housing development

Landco has plans for a housing project next to Long Bay Regional Park. Picture / Greg Bowker

The Environment Court has saved an Auckland property developer from sending millions of pages of information to opponents of a housing project next to Long Bay Regional Park.

In a reserved decision, the court says Landco does not have to give each of the nearly 10,900 submitters notice of its appeal against a North Shore City Council decision about the project.

The firm had sought waivers of the Resource Management Act requirement that the notice of appeal be served on submitters.

It said its notice of appeal was about 350 pages long including annexures and 12 pages without them. If all submitters had to get the full version, 3.8 million photocopied pages would have to be provided - at considerable expense and effort.

Principal Environment Court Judge John Bollard said a structure plan for Long Bay proposed by the council drew 10,919 submissions but surprisingly only 25 submitters appeared in person at the public hearing last November.

He was satisfied that no one would be unduly prejudiced by the court decision, providing that a copy of the notice of appeal was available at the council offices, that Landco put a public notice in the newspapers offering copies, and that it posted the notice for downloading on its website.

Company spokesman George Hulbert confirmed last night that the provisions were made.

He said they were the most effective ways to communicate given the time it would have taken to get so many notices out.

Four appeals have been lodged against the structure plan decision.

One of the appellants, the Auckland Regional Council, has advertised in newspaper public notices columns and its full notice of appeal is available on its website or on view at the city council offices.

Another opponent, the Long Bay-Okura Great Park Society, has made its 10-page notice of appeal available on its website.