Draft:Auckland Council v Auckland Council

Auckland Council v Auckland Council [2020] NZEnvC 122 is a decision of the Environment Court of New Zealand which granted a resource consent to Auckland Council for a proposed seawall and walkway on Orewa Beach. After the consent application was declined by an independent panel of commissioners, who were considering the application on behalf of the council, Auckland Council appealed to the Environment Court. The appeal gained media attention as the council had effectively appealed its own decision.

Background
Orewa Beach is subject to flooding and erosion.

In 2010, Rodney District Council applied for a resource consent to build a 600 metre-long seawall, but commissioners considering the application declined to grant a resource consent for it. The commissioners tagged the project as "experimental" and cited a lack of comprehensive testing or evaluation of the structure and shortcomings in the design in its decision to decline the application.

Consent application
Following a storm in 2013, Auckland Council's community facilities department began planning to build a new walkway and seawall on Orewa Beach. After applying for resource consents, in 2017 an independent panel of commissioners, who were considering the application on behalf of the Council, declined the application. In their decision, the commissioners found that there was no urgent need for a seawall and the proposal going ahead would risk major social and economic loss as a result of damage to the beach caused by the seawall.

Appeal
Auckland Council filed an appeal in the Environment Court against the commissioner's decision. Under the Resource Management Act 1991, decisions made on behalf of consent authorities have the same effect as if the decision was made by the consent authority itself, which effectively caused Auckland Council to have appealed against itself.

On 2 May 2018, the Environment Court permitted the appeal to go ahead. On 27 May 2020, the court made an interim decision which granted the resource consent, after the council made changes to the plan and limited the term of the consent to 35 years, and the final decision of the court was issued on 10 August 2020.

As of July 2019, the appeal had cost Auckland Council NZ$1.26 million in legal fees.