Court date for Mackenzie dairy protesters

The 12 Greenpeace activists arrested on Monday at a protest against the construction of an irrigation pipeline in the Mackenzie Basin will appear in Timaru District Court tomorrow.

A police spokeswoman confirmed yesterday nine women between the ages of 26 and 59 were charged with trespass and unlawful interference.

Three men, aged between 54 and 88, were also arrested.

At the start of the week, 11 activists locked themselves on to diggers and climbed into other machinery to halt construction for the day to protest what they called ''industrial dairying'' in the area south of Aoraki Mt Cook.

At the time of the arrests, Greenpeace sustainable agriculture campaigner Gen Toop said she was ''really proud'' of those who were arrested.