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Far North Mayor Wayne Brown is welcoming a Court of Appeal judgment upholding the resource consent his council granted to a 12-house subdivision on the Karikari Peninsula.
The court said Carrington Estates’ plans for the block overlooking Doubtless Bay were in line with council zoning, and it was not covered by an earlier settlement that Carrington struck with Te Rūnanga ō Ngāti Kahu when it was developing a nearby tourist resort, golf course and winery.
Ngāti Kahu says it intends to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Mr Brown says the council tries to work with iwi, but Ngāti Kahu has been more litigious than other iwi in the region.
"We respect iwi rights but people have got to respect council rights to make decisions. Councils don't make decisions lightly. They make them as sensibly as they can. I wasn't on the council at the time but the people involved must have thought it was a good decision. I notice a lot of Ngāti Kahu people are quite happy to work out there on the development," he says.
Mr Brown welcomed the Court of Appeal also setting aside a High Court decision that the council and Carrington should pay the costs of the case.
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