Farming groups appeal Ruataniwha groundwater rejection in Environment Court

Duncan Abernethy from I & P Farming is the appointed spokesman for the group of eight applicants that wish to use 15 million cubic metres of Ruataniwha groundwater (Tranche 2). Photo / Warren Buckland

Seven groups are appealing a hearing panel decision to reject their application for 15 million cubic metres of groundwater in Central Hawke’s Bay.

Applications for the proposed 15 million cubic metres of Tranche 2 groundwater from the Ruataniwha basin in the Tukituki catchment in Central Hawke’s Bay first opened nearly nine years ago.

Originally eight agricultural and farming interests - Tuki Tuki Awa Ltd, Buchanan No 2 Trust, Plantation Road Dairies Ltd, Te Awahohonu Forest Trust, I & P Farming Ltd, Springhill Dairies Partnership, Papawai Partnership and Purunui Trust - applied for the groundwater and combined their applications into one.

An independent hearing panel, appointed by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, decided in February to reject the application because they believed it went against the direction in the 2020 National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPSFM) to prioritise freshwater values ahead of resource use and development.

The decision also stated that the panel did not believe the potential adverse effects of the application could be avoided or mitigated.

The applicants, except for Purunui Trust, have lodged a notice of appeal with the Environment Court on May 3.

In the notice, the applicants claimed the decision wrongly concluded that the potential adverse effects of the proposals could not be appropriately avoided, remedied or mitigated.

They also disagreed with the notions that cultural values would be further degraded and that the proposal was contrary to the 2020 NPSFM, Hawke’s Bay Regional Policy Statement or the Regional Resource Management Plan.

The applicants claimed the decision “severely underrated” the positive effects of the proposals while overrating the impact it would have, and they claim the decision contained “irreconcilable inconsistencies”.

Duncan Abernethy from I & P Farming, appointed spokesman for the group of applicants, said they had plenty of work to do to refine their application and they were going to take the time to make sure it was right.

“We took this step to preserve our options going forward,” Abernethy said.

Dr Trevor Le Lievre, Wise Water Use spokesman, said in a statement last week that the hearing panel was right to decline the original application due to the potential environmental harm the water take could cause.

“Central Hawke’s Bay has the lowest economic return on water used in all of Hawke’s Bay. We urgently need to be looking at how our existing water is being used and promoting its most efficient and sustainable use, not simply drawing more water from the aquifer as if it’s an infinite resource,” Le Lievre said.