Millions spent on council's legal costs

The cost of fighting a series of appeals against Tauranga's City Plan alone resulted in $913,000 in lawyer's fees. Photo/File

Tauranga City Council racked up nearly $8.3 million in legal bills over the last six years, nearly equalling the combined bills of the Western Bay District and Bay of Plenty Regional councils.

Battling appeals against Tauranga's City Plan swallowed $913,000 in lawyer's fees followed by $237,000 in fees associated with the planning change that created Papamoa's Wairakei urban development area.

Legal fees across all three councils for the six years totalled $16.6 million, with the regional council spending $6.5 million on lawyers and the Western Bay council $1.8 million.

The regional council's biggest bill last year was $243,000 for Rena recovery consents followed by $200,000 each for legal advice on statutory policy and regional infrastructure issues.

However, the biggest single bill was in the 2013-14 financial year when legal advice on Regional Policy Statement appeals totalled $306,000.

It brought appeal costs on the Policy Statement to $806,000 over three years.

Pollution prevention, including investigations and prosecutions, totalled $312,000 over the six years. Appealing Tauranga City Council's City Plan cost $108,000 in 2013.

The regional council's most expensive areas for legal advice were resource regulation totalling $2.8 million over the six years and strategic policy $1.6 million.

Western Bay's most expensive legal battle was the $232,000 in lawyers' costs to fight appeals against Matakana Island's planning change.

Legal fees for District Plan appeals totalled $130,000 over the six years.

Settlement of the Athendale Property Ltd claim cost nearly $92,000 while a prosecution taken by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 2011 cost $18,000 to defend.

Other big legal bills included excess settlement and cost recovery worth $43,000 for Valley View Rd (Kaimai) in 2010.

Stormwater issues cost around $160,000 each in Tauranga and Papamoa and hearings for the Tara Rd designation totalled $131,000.