Toll and council face off over Sounds speed

Toll Shipping is fighting the Marlborough District Council over speed restrictions on its new ferry, which is due to start Cook Strait sailings this month.

The company is appealing in the Environment Court against restrictions that do not allow new ships to travel at more than 15 knots in the Marlborough Sounds unless they comply with a wave height rule.

Toll's new ferry, Kaitaki, is due to arrive in Wellington on August 12 from Europe. Its first scheduled sailing to Picton is set for August 22.

The company declined to comment on what speed the ferry would travel at in Queen Charlotte Sound.

Mediation talks in Blenheim between Toll, the council and other parties began on Monday.

Guardians of the Sounds spokesman Peter Beech said the council was being outgunned by Toll in the talks.

He said the company refused to acknowledge the speed restriction and wave height formula and he believed it intended taking the 15,500-tonne Kaitaki into Queen Charlotte Sound without a resource consent.

Toll declined to comment.

Mr Beech said Toll wanted the Interisland Line ferries to do 20 knots so they could get three return sailings across Cook Strait a day.

Marlborough Mayor Alistair Sowman said he was determined to protect the environmental integrity of the Marlborough Sounds.

"The variation is still on," he said. "The council has been down this track before ... and we cannot allow a repeat of ships coming in and affecting the Sounds environment."

Ultimately, the robustness of the variation would be tested in the Environment Court, he said.

If the appeal went to the Environment Court, there was a variation in the meantime and Toll was required to meet it, he said.

Council environmental policy manager Richard Keyes said that under the variation any ship would need resource consent to exceed 15 knots in Queen Charlotte Sound and Tory Channel.

"On the face of this, the new ship will require this unless Toll can establish it has existing rights under Section 20 of the Resource Management Act."

Mr Keyes said that to establish existing rights, Toll had to show the new vessel had no greater impact on the environment than the present ferries.

- NZPA