The Hastings District Council today pleaded not guilty in the Hastings District Court to two charges laid against it by the Hawke's Bay Regional Council.
The charges for unlawful taking of water arose after a Hawke's Bay Regional Council investigation found evidence of a breach of the maintenance conditions of the Hastings council's resource consent.
The bores in question are those on Brookvale Rd, which supply Havelock North with water, and have been closed since late August.
The case is linked to the contamination outbreak in August this year that struck down 5200 people in Havelock North with campylobacter, and was also linked to 3 deaths.
The council will face a judge-alone trial set down for early next month.