A last-minute application to stop the building of a flood protection bund at Ohaaki Marae on the banks of the Waikato River has been declined.
Work on the $3 million embankment, being paid for by Contact Energy as part of the conditions of its resource consent to operate the Ohaaki geothermal power station, was to begin today.
However, a group of Ngati Tahu landowners tried to stop the work from going ahead, saying they were not properly consulted, the bund was not required, landowners had voted not to build it and it would spoil views to the river from the marae.
The marae, about 40km north of Taupo, has been slowly sinking because of steam extraction at the nearby power station.
Some landowners argued that they had only found out the bund was to be built in April after voting against it mid-2015.