CLASH OF WILLS: Walls Bay in Opua has been at the centre of 20-year legal wrangle. PHOTO/PETER DE GRAAF
CLASH OF WILLS: Walls Bay in Opua has been at the centre of 20-year legal wrangle. PHOTO/PETER DE GRAAF
One of Northland's longest-running and most bitter wrangles has finally come to an end - or possibly not.
Far North district councillors have voted to grant easements over part of a reserve at Walls Bay to Doug's Opua Boatyard, ending a dispute that has lasted 20 years and cost hundredsof thousands of dollars as it bounced back and forth between councils, courthouses, the Department of Conservation and even Parliament.
Boatyard owner Doug Schmuck says the easements simply legalise a long-standing situation at the boatyard, starting long before he bought it, where some of the work areas and a turntable encroach on to the reserve.
Some local residents, however, say Mr Schmuck is trying to take over a waterfront reserve.
The Opua Coastal Preservation Society believes the Reserves Act, which prohibits commercial activity on public reserves, trumps the consents previously granted to Mr Schmuck allowing him to wash down and work on boats on the slipway that crosses the reserve.
They also fear the easements could set a precedent, allowing businesses to use other reserves.
In the saga's latest chapter, in March this year a High Court judge quashed an earlier decision by the Minister of Conservation not to grant the easements because they fell outside her jurisdiction.
The minister then delegated authority to the Far North District Council, which granted the remaining easements sought by Mr Schmuck at its June 5 meeting. Only Councillor Willow-Jean Prime voted against.
Mr Schmuck celebrated his win with a cigar but his opponents vowed to keep fighting.
Opua resident Mike Rashbrooke said the Preservation Society had already applied in the High Court at Whangarei for a judicial review of a council decision from October last year. Their statement of claim would be amended in light of the June 5 decision and what he said was an incorrect map used at the last round of hearings.
