26 Jan 2018
The public interest exception did not apply: the Council did not initiate the litigation and its later intervention did not justify departing from the ordinary rule that the unsuccessful party pays costs; given the complexity and importance of the appeal a 3C scale award was appropriate with a 0.5 day allowance for second counsel; GST is not added to scale costs.
28 Nov 2014
The phrase "any dwelling house" in the plan's noise rule includes dwellings constructed after the certificate of compliance was issued; a certificate of compliance, while treated as a deemed resource consent, remains subject to the plan's conditions and does not exempt the holder from complying with the noise limits measured at any notional boundary including new dwellings, so the Association remains obliged to meet the noise rule despite changes in the receiving environment.
21 May 2013
The High Court dismissed the review: the officer had lawful delegation and validly made the non-notification decision; the council had adequate, independent and peer-reviewed traffic and heritage information to decide non-notification; rule 855.1.1 operates as an assessment criterion within the plan rather than an absolute mandatory setback standard; the activity status was correctly discretionary; no reviewable error, failure to take relevant considerations, nor manifest unreasonableness was shown, so the non-notification decision stands.
10 Feb 2012
The Environment Court erred in holding that a 'family flat' must form part of a larger building; under the District Plan a family flat can be a separate self-contained housekeeping unit (e.g. a granny flat) but where there is already a dwelling on the title it must function as a subordinate adjunct to the principal residence (considering size, relationship, services, intended occupants and lifespan); the factual characteristics of the building determine whether it qualifies, so the matter is remitted to the Environment Court for factual assessment.
24 Apr 2006
The High Court upheld the Environment Court: Rule 27.23 requires that each residential unit in the Living 1 Environment have a separately identifiable net site area of at least 500m2 "associated with" that unit; the Plan's objectives and policies do not alter that plain and contextual meaning and the consideration of amenity effects was relevant and supported by evidence.