A land developer has been fined $15,000 for felling vegetation on his Gisborne property and leaving it where it could pollute a stream.
Director of Napier-based Eagle Eye Developments Luke Hansen was found guilty of one breach of section 15 of the Resource Management Act after a trial in Gisborne District Court in February.
The court heard that between January 17, 2015 and December 17, 2016, work carried out by Hansen resulted in the potential for felled vegetation to get into the Kopakiraho Stream, which runs through his Gaddums Hill property and feeds into the Waimata River.
In his sentencing notes, now released by the court, Judge Craig Thompson said Hansen's offence was "not as bad as some", but still required "a penalty of some significance".
Judge Thompson pointed out the maximum penalty for a conviction was two years' imprisonment or a fine of up to $30,000. "I need to say that having listened to the evidence and reconsidered the notes of evidence and the material since, this offence was one of considerable carelessness and, as I think I have noted already, one could say recklessness, by someone who was well able to know better."