6 Mar 2023
ROYAL FOREST & BIRD PROTECTION SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND INC v SOUTHLAND DISTRICT COUNCIL [2023] NZHC 399
- Citation
- [2023] NZHC 399
- Court
- High Court
The Court dismissed the review. It held the Council lawfully exercised its discretion under the LGA and its Significance and Engagement Policy, reasonably concluded the access request was not a 'significant' decision requiring wider engagement, properly balanced competing community views and climate concerns in context, and that climate science and policy considerations did not impose mandatory procedural obligations that would have required the access decision to be declined; the CMA does not confer an absolute landowner veto and the Decision was not irrational or unlawful.