The Ports of Auckland’s plan to extend its wharf into Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour was controversial, significant – and the public should have been allowed to have their say on it, a lobby group says.
Urban Auckland has taken its battle to halt the 100m extension of the Bledisloe Wharf to the High Court at Auckland where it’s arguing the council didn’t follow proper process when giving resource consent for the work.
The port company obtained the consents without notifying the public or city councillors, but claims these were not necessary at the time. Urban Auckland’s lawyer Matthew Palmer told the court today that the decision not to publicly notify the plan was inconsistent with the purpose of the Resource Consent Act.
An earlier proposal in 2013 to extend the wharf had been met with controversy, meaning the Auckland Council should have known that last year’s application would have prompted a similar response from the public, Dr Palmer said.
About 30 people crowded into the courtroom to hear Dr Palmer’s opening arguments. The port and the group agreed to the three-day High Court hearing after an interim injunction failed to prevent construction work going ahead in April.
The case is proceeding despite a compromise by Ports of Auckland at the end of April, which reduced its plans from two port expansions to one. About 2000 people turned out to protest the original expansion plan in May.The port occupies 75ha of land in the centre of Auckland.
