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The Green Party has urged state-owned mining company Solid Energy to waive its right to a court-ordered payment of $5760 from protesters who challenged its right to mine the habitat of a rare snail.
But the company says it deserves the money after having to defend a barrage of legal challenges by the protest group, the Save Happy Valley Coalition, which was "trying to stop us carrying out our business".
The coalition went to court seeking a review of a Government decision to allow Solid Energy to remove Powelliphanta Augustus snails from their West Coast habitat to make way for coal mining.
The legal bid failed and yesterday Justice Simon France awarded estimated costs of $5760 to Solid Energy for having to defend the bid.
The company had followed the correct procedure to get permission to move the snails and was doing it at considerable cost, Justice France said.
Green Party conservation spokeswoman Metiria Turei said the costs were a "trifling" amount to Solid Energy.
"The coalition is acting in the interests of all New Zealanders, to protect our fragile environment and try to prevent the extinction of one of our most rare and endangered snails. They should be applauded for their efforts and achievements rather than penalised.
"While the court has imposed the order for costs, Solid Energy can and should waive these. As a state-owned enterprise, Solid Energy should be acting in the best interests of its shareholders - the public of New Zealand."
Solid Energy spokeswoman Vicki Blyth said the company was acting in the best interests of its shareholders, and had made a conscious decision to seek costs.
"The actions of the coalition have cost us substantially more over the last two years than $5670. They have made it clear they are trying to stop us carrying out our business."
To date more than 4200 live Powelliphanta Augustus snails have been collected on the ridgeline of the Stockton Opencast Mine, leading Solid Energy's experts to conclude that the snail population is much greater than initially estimated.
