December 08, 2022
Ngati Awa ponders next move in water bottling fight
Ngati Awa isn’t giving up its battle to stop the expansion of a water bottling plant at Otakiri near Whakatane.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed its appeal against a resource consent granted to Cresswell, a subsidiary of Chinese soft drink giant Nongfu Spring, to take up to a billion litres of water from the aquifer.
It was also ordered to pay costs to Cresswell and Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
Runanga chief executive Reuben Araroa says the iwi is concerned not just with the huge volume of water being taken from its whenua but the millions of plastic bottles that will be created to hold it.
“We have to understand what the next step is an we’re just working with our legal counsel at the moment to figure out what that step is so it’s still significant to us with our connection to the water so we look forward to the new year to work out what the next strategy will look like,” he says.
The Court of Appeal backed an earlier High Court decision which found the effects of consumers discarding plastic bottles were remote and beyond the scope of the consent process.