A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Two forestry companies and their directors charged by the District Council for alleged breaches of resource consents, revealed by storm events last March, have chosen to have their cases decided by juries.
The companies and their respective directors — Samnic Forest Management Ltd, Richard Hayes, Scotty Barry Funnell and GavinFrancis Fortune; Forest Management Solutions and Warren Peter Hughes — all entered not guilty pleas to the charges when the case was called in Gisborne yesterday morning.
Environment Court judge Brian Dwyer further remanded them all to appear next at a case review hearing on August 9.
A decision will be made at that hearing whether each of the groups will be tried together or individually.
The parties are all charged with discharging contaminants — sediment and forestry waste — on to land in circumstances where it entered or could enter water, and with five counts of failing to comply with restrictions on land use.
