The Supreme Court has upheld resource consents for three salmon farms to be developed in the Marlborough Sounds by the King Salmon company, but in an important win for the protection of "outstanding landscapes", it has ruled against a fourth site.
The decision gives a major victory to the Environmental Defence Society, which took its appeal against the resource consent granted for a salmon farm at Paparua, Port Gore, because it believed the decision had failed to uphold important principles in the Coastal Policy Statement, which has legal force under the Resource Management Act.
"This is an incredibly important decision," said EDS coastal policy expert Raewyn Peart.
"I've been working on the RMA since it came into force in 1991 and this is the first time this issue has gone to the Supreme Court.
"It looks at this whole issue of whether the legislation, with a National Policy Statement, provides a binding bottom line (for environmental protection), whether it protects special places, and the court has said 'yes'," she told BusinessDesk.