Auckland economist Josephine Grierson has won a Court of Appeal case allowing her 57-shop North Shore retail development to go ahead.
The ruling defeats mall owner Westfield NZ, which had tried to block her Discount Brands development at the Northcote site.
The North Shore City Council had granted her resourceconsent, but Westfield and Northcote Mainstreet went to the High Court, which ruled that the council's approval lacked detail on the centre's social and economic impact.
But Grierson took the matter to the Court of Appeal and has now won the right to begin developing the site.
She is revamping the former Palmers Garden Centre on Akoranga Dr for a development which she says will create 150 jobs and attract $16 million worth of annual spending by North Shore shoppers who would otherwise cross the harbour bridge.
Grierson said the builders would be due on site in the next few days and the centre would be opened towards the end of September. It was already three-quarters leased. The project costs were now near to $15 million, including the land and building acquisition and legal fees.
"They've been inflated by millions of dollars because of the delay and if this hadn't been a really outstanding project in the first place, it would have died in the ditch.
"It's critical that the Resource Management Act should not be used by competitors for anti-competitive purposes and if the High Court judgment had been upheld, that would have been one of the consequences.
"It's been a difficult time but I'm grateful people involved have given the project their support."
