Horizons Regional Council would like mediation in its dispute over One Plan implementation with environment groups, strategy and regulation manager Nic Peet says.
The council would be looking for areas of agreement with the groups, he said, and wanted a formal mediation.
Gary Taylor is the CEO of the Environmental Defence Society, which, with Fish & Game, is asking the Environment Court for a ruling on whether the way Horizons has been giving consents for intensive farming is consistent with the Resource Management Act. He said the groups did not favour formal court-assisted mediation.
"We think in the circumstances it's best to get the issues before the court as soon as possible and get a decision. It's obviously in everybody's interests to get the law clarified," said Mr Taylor.
Former Horizons staffer Greg Carlyon, who helped write the One Plan, said the parties had tried to reach agreement for the last six months and that mediation was unlikely to help.