19 Feb 2018
The court held the respondent has an arguable contractual entitlement under clause 15 to one‑third of the water 'permitted by any local or other authority', including potential agricultural use, and the draft easement preserving the status quo is therefore insufficient; accordingly the caveat must remain until an easement consistent with the contractual right is granted.
3 Oct 2016
The plaintiffs failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that a contractual agreement existed to grant a registrable equitable easement over Waikaramu (or the other lands) and failed to establish part performance or equitable estoppel; the informal historical arrangements constituted permissive access/licences on notice and conditions rather than registrable rights; accordingly no equitable easement was declared or ordered and alternative equitable relief was refused.
17 Sept 2013
The court held CRC110662 did not unlawfully derogate from CRC042233.3 because it is a back-stop consent exercisable only when the primary consent is not being used; the council lawfully considered the effects, correctly declined to notify the applicant as he was not an affected party, claims regarding transfer and interference were premature, and there was no bias or predetermination; the judicial review application was dismissed.
6 Jun 2013
The Environment Court did not err in declining cumulative-effects assessment: the Sullivan Mine was not part of the 'existing environment' because substantial additional RMA consents would be required and implementation was speculative; Hawthorn [84] was distinguished and not applicable by analogy to a coal mining licence in these factual circumstances; no legal error warranted overturning the decision; appeal dismissed.
27 Feb 2013
Section 45Q of the Public Finance Act, enacted in identical terms to s9 of the SOE Act, renders Crown actions under the mixed ownership regime (including the sale of shares) reviewable for consistency with Treaty principles; applying the material-impairment test, the Court concluded the proposed sale of up to 49% of Mighty River Power would not materially impair the Crown's ability to provide reasonable, Treaty-compliant redress, and the appeal was dismissed.
19 Dec 2008
Transfer 15488 is an easement in gross which was validly transferred through the chain of title and effectively vested in the Streeters by the 1982 transfers; the erroneous memorials on various Certificates of Title recording T15488 as appurtenant are to be corrected by the Registrar; the easement has not been extinguished; accordingly Hexton's broad declarations and injunctions to prevent historic users taking water, to create new easement corridors or to remove servient tenement improvements, are declined except for declarations limited to correcting incorrect memorials and specific determi…
28 Sept 2006
Clause 20 is to be interpreted as guaranteeing the wells' productive capacity at a specified date and not a guarantee of an ongoing legal right to take water; clause 20 required that all three wells be established and able to contribute to the guaranteed total; because there remain contested factual issues (including alleged misrepresentations and the distribution/positioning/productivity of wells) summary judgment on liability was inappropriate and the matter must return to the High Court for trial.