Mangawhai ratepayers secured a short-term victory over the Kaipara District Council when the High Court ruled the town's controversial wastewater project breached the Local Government Act.
In a judgment released yesterday - nearly four months after hearing the case in Whangarei - Justice Paul Heath said legal costs should be awarded to the Mangawhai Residents and Ratepayers' Association but invited further submissions to discuss that and other issues.
But association chairman Bruce Rogan said his members had spent $200,000 to $250,000 in legal costs so far.
The association applied for a judicial review into the Mangawhai EcoCare wastewater treatment scheme and asked the High Court to rule that the council acted against the Local Government Act and its responsibilities to its ratepayers by supporting the Kaipara Validation Act.
The validation act is a law passed validating irregularities in the setting and assessing of Kaipara District rates from the 2006-07 financial year to 2011-12.