Call for end to hostilities

by John Maslin john.maslin@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
Two letters the first to the Attorney General and the other to the Solicitor General have urged an end to the long-running saga involving Keith and Margaret Berryman and a bridge to their King Country farm.
The army built the swingbridge leading to the Berrymans' King Country farm in 1986. It collapsed eight years later when beekeeper Kenneth Richards tried to cross it in his honey-laden utility, plunging 30m to his death in a gorge of the Retaruke River.
A coroner's finding said the Berrymans must bear responsibility for the bridge collapse but Justice Jill Mallon quashed that ruling in a High Court decision.
The Berrymans have been involved in protracted legal battles seeking to clear themselves of responsibility as well as seek some compensation.
Justice Mallon urged the parties to meet and find some resolution.
Joining the fray in this latest chapter is Whanganui MP Chester Borrows.
Writing to Attorney General Chris Finlayson on February 3 this year, Mr Borrows said "this suppurating mess" with the Berrymans "fighting in hand to hand combat with the NZ Army" had gone on long enough.
He said while there were a number of differing views in this matter "the resounding one from the outside is that they [the Berrymans] were, and continue to be, unfairly treated by the army".
"It is an embarrassment that this situation arose on National's watch and remains unresolved after nearly 15 years and two governments," Mr Borrows wrote.
"In the spirit of the new prime minister, we should have the strength and wisdom to deal with this blight on justice."
Mr Borrows said despite continuing instruction from the courts to mediate, the army refused.
"It is now over a decade since the leader of the opposition stood on the bridge at Retaruke and promised to negotiate the matter out and three years since Don Brash did the same.
"Let's move this debacle on and bring it to a conclusion once and for all," he said.
The Berrymans have unsuccessfully tried on several occasions to strike a deal with Government about compensation. In 1998 a select committee's recommendation of compensation was rejected by then prime minister Jenny Shipley and in 2001 the Berrymans did not discuss an offer of $150,000 from the Labour Government.
Rob Moodie, lawyer for the couple, has taken out a $4.5 misfeasance claim against the army (which built the bridge) on behalf of the Berrymans. That has yet to be heard.
Dr Moodie wrote to the Crown Law Office on February 11, saying that the Berrymans accepted Justice Mallon's advice to find a "mutual resolution".
"My own assessment from the history of this matter & is that it is the inability of some defence force officers to accept the truth of what happened that is standing in the path of mutual resolution of this matter," his letter said.