New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Special consultative procedure

Legal area

Court

1 Aug 2018

GWYNN v NAPIER CITY COUNCIL [2018] NZHC 1943

Citation

[2018] NZAR 1410
Court

High Court

The special consultative procedure does not exclude the consultation principles in s 82 of the LGA; the Council breached its statutory consultation obligations by failing to identify, notify and sufficiently encourage participation from the Napier Christian community and employee representatives (First Union), rendering the decision unlawful and invalid and requiring it to be set aside and reconsidered under a proper SCP.
22 Oct 2014

NORTHLAKE INVESTMENTS LIMITED v QUEENSTOWN LAKES DISTRICT COUNCIL[2014] NZHC 2593

Citation

NORTHLAKE INVESTMENTS LIMITED v QUEENSTOWN LAKES DISTRICT COUNCIL[2014] NZHC 2593
Court

High Court

Interim relief was refused because the threshold necessity to preserve Northlake's position was not established (material was already publicly available and assumptions were disclosed), Northlake could participate in consultation and seek judicial review after the decision, and the discretionary factors (public interest in timely consultation, statutory timetable, and potential prejudice to the Council and public) weighed against granting a stay.
20 Oct 2014

NORTHLAKE INVESTMENTS LTD v QUEENSTOWN LAKES DISTRICT COUNCIL[2014] NZHC 2507

Citation

[2014] NZHC 2507
Court

High Court

The court declined the application for an interim order under s 8 Judicature Amendment Act 1972 to prevent QLDC from embarking on the Special Consultative Procedure under s 83 Local Government Act 2002 in relation to the proposed Wanaka community pool complex; reasons to follow in a written judgment.
25 Aug 2014

THE NEW ZEALAND MOTOR CARAVAN ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED v THAMES-COROMANDEL DISTRICT COUNCIL [2014] NZHC 2016

Citation

[2014] NZHC 2016
Court

High Court

Court held the Freedom Camping Bylaw as made on 14 December 2011 was valid: the Council reasonably satisfied itself of s11(2) requirements (necessity, appropriateness/proportionality and NZBORA consistency) and any limitation on s18 NZBORA was justified under s5; the Council's resolutions of 13 March and 27 November 2013 purporting to amend Schedules A and B were unlawful for failure to use the required special consultative procedure and those amendments were severed and quashed; Clauses 203.5 and 2003.5 of the Consolidated Bylaw are to be revoked via proper statutory steps and are not to be…
26 Jun 2014

SAFE WATER ALTERNATIVE NEW ZEALAND INCORPORATED v HAMILTON CITY COUNCIL [2014] NZHC 1463

Citation

[2014] NZHC 1463
Court

High Court

Application for interim relief dismissed because applicant failed to establish it was reasonably necessary to preserve its position: recommencement of fluoridation would not materially erode applicant's right to due process, there was no cogent evidence of short-term health harm or material prejudice, the costs to the Council were minimal, and the discretionary factors were neutral overall; therefore interim prohibition was not justified.
28 May 2014

MANGAWHAI RATEPAYERS' AND RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION INC v KAIPARA DISTRICT COUNCIL [2014] NZHC 1147

Citation

[2014] 3 NZLR 85
Court

High Court

The Court held that the EcoCare agreements (2005) and Modification 1 (2006) were entered into in breach of Part 6 and the s83 special consultative procedure of the Local Government Act and are unlawful; financing contracts accompanied by a s118 chief executive certificate constitute protected transactions enforceable by creditors notwithstanding underlying procedural illegality; the Kaipara Validation Act 2013 unequivocally validates the specified historical rates and assessments so the Court cannot declare those validated rates unlawful and the Act's removal of the ability to obtain effectiv…
3 Oct 2013

KARAKA v MARLBOROUGH DISTRICT COUNCIL [2013] NZHC 2577

Citation

[2013] NZHC 2577
Court

High Court

The Council breached its consultation obligations under s82 of the Local Government Act 2002 by failing to provide timely access to the true reasons for the boundary change and by denying the particularly affected group adequate time and information to make meaningful submissions; that procedural failure was material and warranted quashing the decision to transfer the 58 properties.
7 Sept 2011

NELSON GAMBLING TASKFORCE INCORPORATED V NELSON CITY COUNCIL HC NEL CIV 2010-442-368

Citation

openlaw-5a79fa9d_4714_41c6_b7d4_1a915be23e62.pdf
Court

High Court

The Court held that attaching the draft policy did not satisfy the statutory requirement for a detailed statement of proposal when amending an existing policy; the Council’s broader 2010 amendments (other than the expressly flagged machine cap reduction) were made without complying with ss83 and 87(2)(b)/87(3) and are therefore invalid; the Trillian Trust territorial consent, granted under those invalid amendments, is invalid but the venue licence issue was not determinatively addressed and third‑party prejudice did not outweigh the need to grant relief.
16 Dec 2010

NELSON GAMBLING TASKFORCE INCORPORATED V NELSON CITY COUNCIL AND ANOR HC NEL CIV-2010-442-000368

Citation

openlaw-5a89a6a6_e130_43eb_8aa6_3dc341964e88.pdf
Court

High Court

Threshold inability-to-pay was established; balancing factors (public interest, access to justice, merits, potential member funding, confined trial length, and motive to avoid costs) justified a reduced security award. It was just to order security of $10,000 in two tranches while declining to order a stay because an Associate Judge lacks jurisdiction to grant the substantive relief of staying a judicial review proceeding; costs of the interlocutory application were awarded to the Council on a 2B basis.
3 Aug 2010

WHAKATANE DISTRICT COUNCIL V BAY OF PLENTY REGIONAL COUNCIL CA CA258/2009

Citation

openlaw-ba50ec22_77c0_405b_8e3f_5adb6b99d724.pdf
Court

Court of Appeal

EBOP failed to give consideration to community views and preferences at the s78(2)(a) and (b) stages (definition of problems/objectives and identification of reasonably practicable options); institutional knowledge and consultant work did not substitute for stage‑specific consideration, so the June 2007 decisions were invalid and must be set aside.