28 May 2020
NORTHLAKE INVESTMENTS LIMITED v OTAGO REGIONAL COUNCIL [2020] NZHC 1144
- Citation
- [2020] NZHC 1144
- Court
- High Court
The High Court upheld the conviction because on the totality of the evidence Northlake, as developer and consent holder, failed to take all reasonable precautions a prudent developer would have taken to prevent sediment discharge into water: the SMP and controls were inadequate and were not properly revised after the July 2017 discharge, the rainfall events were within foreseeable ranges and should have been provided for, and reliance on the contractor did not absolve Northlake of its statutory duty under the RMA; the sentence of $42,500 was not manifestly excessive and the modest disparity w…