Havelock North company Te Mata Mushrooms has been fined $26,000 in its latest tangle with neighbours, the Hawke's Bay Regional Council and the courts over discharges of offensive odours.

The fine, split between two charges laid by the Council relating to discharges in February this year, was imposed by Judge Craig Thompson in Hastings Distrct Court today.

The judge also awarded costs against the company but expressed sympathy to both sides of the enduring dispute, the company which has a history dating back over 50 years and employs about 120 people, and the neighbours around the property in the Brookvale area on the northern outskirts of Havelock North.

Jonathan Krebs appeared for the Council and Lara Blomfield for the company and owner and operator Michael Whittaker.

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